A Midsummer Night's Massacre
by WolfKitty
Summary: A female scientist who works for the Borgia family has been assigned to four experiments with a group of Yautjas. As she learns more about them, she wonders if it was a good idea to be assigned to them or not, and wonders if she should set them free.
1. The Experiments

A/N: okay, so i seem to have started another fanfic. what a surprise. haven't had time to update my other fanfics lately D: sorry. anyway, onto the first chapter.

disclaimer: i own all the characters, except most of the humans that are unfamiliar to the games, movies, and anything else are real people that are my friends :) Jason, Corona, Sahara, all of them are real people. this fanfic started because we all threw in our ideas and such. i got permission from them and they let me put them in this story *nod* Heather is me lol. Jason and Razor are _mine _:P and when i say 'mine' i mean 'mine' in real life too 3 this chapter is kinda short but the next chapters will be much longer, i promise :3

**Message One: The Experiments**

Back then, no one really knew what it was. The newspapers called it the New Way Devil. The Indians had legends about it going back centuries. Returning in the hottest seasons to hunt its favorite prey: human beings. And it was hot that night in New Way City; the hottest midsummer ever recorded. The night that Bruno Borgia, God of Gangsters...died.

And so it began. This tragedy of two worlds. This epic fall and rise of men and monsters. A story of power, revenge, and unnatural love. The Devil had broken the law of its own kind; it had made itself known to its prey in a devastating and humiliating way. And worst of all, it had survived the exposure. We now know that these creatures are nomadic; bound by strict clan loyalties, unbreakable taboos. Disgrace and exile were all that one could expect from breaking its laws.

But nothing simply ends. The events of that sweltering night in June, sent ripples through time. We humans had dissected the technology from the tools the Devil had dropped in its haste, we had made ourselves masters of a technology unknown on Earth, preparing ourselves for when next they came hunting in the hot season. So we sent it back to atone for the sins of its past.

Driven by advanced alien technology.

Ruled by a dynasty of crime.

What once was New Way City had blossomed into Neonopolis: City of Light.

**Present Time, Neonopolis, 8:39 PM Thursday, June 17th. Borgia Industries Building.**

It was freezing in the labs, as hot as it was outside, it felt like it was snowing _inside_. Heather headed back to the locker rooms to grab a jacket, or she couldn't continue these experiments. She ruffled her long black hair and heaved a sigh, searching her pockets for her keys. Glancing around the blank metal walls and the soft glow from the computers, seeing other scientists staring into the glass screens and typing onto the keyboard. A thunderclap boomed through the outside of the walls, and caused the lights to flicker once or twice. She looked up at the lights and stared for a minute, before pulling out her keys and sticking them into the lock.

"Cold, Kitten?"

She turned her head to see a man with long black hair, sitting down in a swivel chair in front of a computer. "Yes. The storm must've knocked out our heater." She replied, rolling her eyes and opening the door, making her way inside.

"Might want to get an extra coat. The power might get knocked out completely soon." He replied.

"Sure thing."

Walking along the aisles of lockers, putting her hands in her pockets to keep them warm. With a few of the lights blown out, it sent an eerie green-ish glow throughout the room. Such a thing creeped her out, even if she wasn't alone. She was even surprised that she worked here, since medical tools and cutting open things literally made her want to be sick. Maybe it was just being able to be around a bunch of aliens? She _did _find them interesting. However something in her mind that something, just _something _would eventually go wrong.

She pushed the thought aside again, not wanting to make herself paranoid tonight. Finally finding her locker and opening it, pulling out a black hoodie with a gunround logo on the back. Closing her locker, she threw the hoodie around her shoulders and stuck her arms in, pulling the jacket on and snuggling into it. It wasn't the best, but it was all she had right now to keep herself warm.

Making her way out, she opened the door again and stopped in her tracks, keeping herself from running into the black haired man, who was close to opening the door. "You got a new assignments, kitty-cat." He said.

"What are they, Jason?" Heather replied, making her way over to a computer and typing something up.

Staring at the papers in his hand and reading through them, it was a minute or two before he replied. "You got...four of those Yautja things. They were captured a couple months ago and they're being transferred here from another company." He said.

Heather looked up at him, eyes squinting. "What other company?"

"Eh, someone called Weyland Industries." He said.

She shook her head. "But...Charles Weyland has been missing for years, how can the company still be in control?" She said.

Jason shrugged. "Not sure but that's where these guys are coming from. They're being set up in the containment level." He said.

"Gotcha." She nodded, hitting the return key on the keyboard and stood up. "Let me know when Sahara gets back. She said she'd left to get us something to eat and she's still not back yet." She rolled her eyes.

"I'll do just that." He said, waving at her.

She headed towards the elevator and pressed the 'Down' button, sticking her hands in her pockets again to keep herself warm. A soft 'ding' was released as the doors slid open, two women were standing inside. One looked spanish and had fairly tanned skin, dark brown hair with her front bangs dyed a bright hot-pink color, and the other had short, straight hair that covered her ears. The spanish girl looked up at Heather as they exchanged greetings.

"Is my boisterous sister back yet?" The spanish girl asked through her thick accent.

Heather let out a chuckle. "Not yet. I just told Jason to let me know if she got back anytime soon."

The spanish girl nodded again and patted Heather's shoulder, making her way out with the other girl. "Yeah, well, make sure she comes straight to me after she gets here. I need to talk to her about the weather system." She said.

"I'll tell her she's up for a lecture." Heather laughed, stepping into the elevator.

"Just make sure she gets it!" The girl said and walked off.

Heather pressed one of the buttons on the elevator as the doors slid shut. If there was one thing that Heather hated, it was being in an elevator by herself. She'd encountered a few problems with them before, and all they did was make her paranoid. She looked down at the floor and ruffled her hair again, uncomfortably. Another thunderclap roared from outside, and the lights flickered twice. She tapped her foot impatiently, but kept her head down, staring at the floor. She certainly hoped that she wouldn't be the _only _one taking care of the four creatures. The place made her paranoid enough already, she didn't want to be by herself while experimenting on four Yautjas at the same time.

Finally, the elevator came to a stop, and Heather quickly made her way out, avoiding the other scientists who were heading into the doors. Walking down the dark hallway of black and grey metal, looking around at the halls that lead to the experiment rooms where other Yautjas were being held. Some had a damp green color to their skin, after being surgically altered. Some had their hair cut off all the way to the tips of their heads. Some had given up on their minds, and gave into becoming slaves. Others were stubborn, and occasionally tried breaking free. They always wound up getting captured again, though.

Coming to a stop, Heather looked up at the sign that said 'Room 1000', which was Heather's own experiment room. She pulled out a card and swiped it through the terminal in front of her, as she then typed in a password, causing two round cylinders to extend out. She leaned in and placed her eyes into the goggles as a red laser ran over her eyes, lifting up the goggles as the word 'Confirmed: Welcome Doctor Adams' appeared in bold green letters on the screen. A faint beep was released as the doors slid open similar to the elevator's. She placed the card back in her pocket and made her way down the hallway and performed the same thing to the second termial that was next to the final door. After hearing the last beep, the doors slid open and she walked into the large white room, seeing four Yautjas cuffed to autopsy tables.

The smallest one had dark brown skin, with black spots lining the sides of its arms and legs. The fair sized one had somewhat of a green-cream color to it, with dark brown spots that looked similar to a leapord's. The second largest one had fairly pale skin, it almost looked white, but it wasn't close enough to be white. It had black stripes lining the outside of its arms and legs, the markings that looked similar to a tiger's. And the last one, which was one that was larger than the other three, had a deep tanned skin, and had few spots in multiple areas of its body. These seemed different from the others that had been captured, and Heather thought that she just might be excited about spending time with these four.

As she walked in, staring at the palest Yautja, she saw two other scientists at the corner of her eye, and walked up to the girl with electric blue hair pulled into pigtails, the other was a bit taller than the two, he was tan and had a similar appearance to the spanish girl that Heather passed earlier, and his hair was short and dark. Heather scratched her head before looking back up again.

"Presea." Heather greeted the blue haired girl.

"Kitty! Your _friends _are here." She smirked, nodding towards the four creatures.

"Yeah, yeah." Heather waved a hand. "Please tell me that I'm not the only one experimenting on these guys." She asked.

"Aw don't worry. I'll still be here, but Jake's already got another assignment, right bud?" Presea said.

"Yeah." The man replied. "Gotta go examine these guys' masks and armor." He said.

Heather nodded and walked over to sit down in a swivel chair as she began typing on the keyboard. "I'll see you guys in a while." Jake said before leaving. After that, Presea went and stood behind Heather, watching her type. After a long silence, the intercom let out a scratchy noise, and a voice was heard over the speaker. Jason.

"_Kitten, Sahara is back. You want me to send her up?"_

Presea pressed a button and stepped away from Heather. "I'll come and pick her up."

"_Alrighty then."_

And with that, he hung up. Presea and Heather looked at each other. "I'll be right back. This shoudln't take too long." Presea said before leaving the room.

Heather continued typing, until she froze again after hearing a soft gurgled purr come from one of the creatures. She slowly turned her head to look at them, but all she could see was their chests slightly moving up and down from breathing. She shrugged and stood up, figuring that she might as well go ahead and sedate them before they began experimenting. Walking over to a tray that had tools all over it, she picked up a needle and walked over to the first table with the palest Yautja, and looked down at him. On his forehead was a strange marking: it was two swirls that had a couple of circles on the ends. It looked like a different version of a Ying Yang symbol, and she wondered if it was a tattoo or not.

She smirked at the very thought of it. "Well aren't you a beautiful creature." She chuckled, looking down at the small computer on the side of the table. "Let's see...what's your name?" She asked no one. Typing something into the computer, the words 'Code Name: Razor' came up in green letters. She looked back up at his drugged face and let out a faint grin. "Huh. So your name's Razor." She said quietly to herself. "Time to go night-night." She said before lifting up the syringe and stuck it into his arm.

After that, she walked back over to the tray and refilled the syringe, as she walked over to the smallest Yautja and retyped the same thing into the panel on his table. This time, she had all of their names revealed onto the small screen, as she held the syringe in one hand and typed with the other. After a minute or two, she looked up at the smallest one. "Bleeder." She said, as he barely opened his eyes at the sound of his name. "Razor, Bleeder, Neon, and Grinder." She looked at each Yautja as she said their names. Slightly shaking her head, she prepared to stick the needle into 'Bleeder's' arm. "Strange names." She said.

*

A few hours after Sahara's return, the three girls set up and began preforming painful experiments on the four Yautjas. Some were difficult for Heather to watch, even if they were dangerous creatures, some of the experiments were too painful for her to watch. Nervously rubbing her neck, she turned her head away while receiving a comforting pat from Sahara. When they pulled out the scalpels and knives, it was time for Heather to leave. Those kinds of tests were just too much for her.

"Almost done, Kitten." Sahara said.

Heather nodded slowly after hearing an electric shock behind her.

"Done." Presea announced as she removed a pair of goggles from her eyes.

Heather nodded. "Alright. They need to be placed in the test tubes for the rest of the night." She said, turning around.

The other two nodded. "We'll finish our experiments in the morning." Sahara nodded. "However, you'll probably be on your own, Kitten. Me and Presea gotta take over for Jake. Apparantly, these guys' tools are far more advanced than the other Yautjas we've captured." Sahara shook her head and waved a hand nonchalantly.

"What about the experimental hybrids?" Heather asked. "Swift Knife, Stone Heart, Long Spear...you know the ones." She said.

"Oh, those..." Presea put a finger to her chin and looked up thoughtfully.

"Those are still being worked on." Sahara said. "Mistress Lucretia doesn't quite know what to do with them yet. They're just rotting away in their testing tubes." She said, shrugging.

"Besides. Hunter is more interested in these four." Presea nodded towards the Yautjas beside them.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow. Be careful out there, with the Serviteurs and Dead Men going at it again." Heather waved as her friends stripped off their gloves and tossed them into the garbage before heading out the doors.

"We'll call you once we get home."

"You'd better."

The doors soon shut after they'd gone, which left Heather alone and staring at the four Yautjas with her arms crossed. She sighed irritably and dropped her arms, walking over to Razor's table. "Okay, _Razor_, time to put you to bed." She said. In that split second, the Yautja shot a death glare at her, letting out a deep growl. He was obviously becoming agitated.

Heather took a small step back and made a face. "That won't do you any good, buddy. You ain't got no choice anyway." She said as she began to walk away, until the Yautja let out a fierce roar and quickly snapped his right hand free from the shackle and quickly grabbed Heather's wrist in a hard grip.

Heather's head snapped around and looked at the angry Yautja and let out a squeal. "Oh Christ!" She exclaimed, feeling his _razor _sharp claws dig into her skin. Eyes widened, she stared at the Yautja as she clawed to get her hand free.

("L'ulij-bpe Ooman!!") He roared, flaring his mandibles.

Heather's eyes widened even more at the fact that she understood what he said. "OH MY GOD, YOU CAN TALK!"

---------

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**L'ulij -bpe Ooman!:** Crazy human!

weeell? should i continue?


	2. Irritation

A/N: thank you to those of you who reviewed my last chapter :D i really didn't think anyone would like this! well i hope i can keep it up and hope you guys like this next chapter. it's kind of a quick update, but i had a free day today and had plenty of time to write :3 excuse any typos x.o

disclaimer: i own most of the characters, you know the drill. i don't own Predators or anything like that, blah blah, you get the idea.

* * *

**Message Two: Irritation**

"OH MY GOD YOU CAN TALK!" Heather screamed, her free hand flailing like mad, looking for a small tool that she could use as a weapon.

The Yautja's death grip on her wrist didn't loosen, as she collapsed to the floor, hand still searching for a tool of some sort. However she immediately stopped when she heard him silence his roars, she looked up carefully and could hear him letting out a curious purr, as the two of them instantly made eye contact and stared; one stared in fear, the other stared in surprise. She paused, and saw one of his brows rise up, looking at her like she was out of her mind. This annoyed her, because the look he was giving her made her feel like she was stupid. She couldn't believe this was happening to her.

"L-let me go..." She uttered out.

("Tarei hsan...") He growled, letting his grip loosen just a slight bit.

Heather made a face. "Wh-what?" She questioned, feeling his strong grip return once she attempted to free her hand after he'd loosened it up.

("Hnn...") He rumbled, turning his head the other way to examine the place carefully.

Heather was becoming agitated, forming her eyebrows into an annoyed glare. "Please..." She gasped. "...L-let me go..." She looked up at him, trembling, afraid that he might kill her if she didn't release him.

She gasped again, right after he proceeded in her request, by releasing her wrist as he let his arm lie in place, he was still looking around, obviously concious, and well aware of what was going on. Heather leaped off the floor, clutching her hand that was in his grip, staring at him in a terrified manner, backing away from him as far as she could before bumping into the computer panel not too far away.

She watched him for a minute, he managed to lean forward just a small bit, as he looked over and saw his comrades all strapped to experiment tables just like he was. He let out a growl, that made her back up a little bit more, as he began to claw at his other shackle, attempting to get his restrained hand free.

("C'jit...") She heard him grumble. She couldn't believe that she could understand the words he was speaking. Were they even words? They sounded nothing like English, and she'd studied foreign languages for quite a while, and the word 'C'jit' was _not _on her list. She immediately assumed that it was the language that only the Yautjas spoke in.

Blinking, and trying not to underestimate the creature, Heather finally straightened up and placed a hand on her hip, looking at him dubiously. "Uh, hey." She finally spoke. The Yautja stopped what he was doing and carefully turned to look at the human girl with irritated interest. "Can you understand me?" She said, pointing to herself.

He raised a brow again.

"You're not getting out of those. And if you do, then I'll call security, and you won't _like _security, little reptile." She said, waving a finger at him.

("Hulij-bpe lou-dte kale...") He said. Something told Heather that whatever he'd spoke was meant to be an insult. She just stared.

"Hnh." She pouted. "Something's telling me that you just intended to insult me..." She said quietly, but loud enough for him to hear her. "Alrighty. Fine then." She said as she whirled her arm around and punched a small button that sent off a loud wailing sound through the room.

The Yautja roared at first, until he realized that it was just an alarm. From what she could see; panic soon spread across his face as he began to tear at the shackles again, this time with nothing but blind fury. Heather felt a sweat drop form at her temple as she began to carefully inch away, attempting to get to the door. But before she made another step, she was shocked when she saw him literally rip off the cuff to his other hand, and he began to pull on the ones holding his feet down. Much to her surprise, he managed to rip them off as well without any trouble.

If he was this strong then why didn't he do it earlier? Was it the drugs? Whatever questions she had, they needed to be put aside. The main problem was that she had a fully concious ­(and pissed off) Yautja now rampaging through the room, suddenly running to free his comrades. Heather cursed and made her way towards the doors. However, sadly, she found herself being hurled back against the table in a second, the pale Yautja roaring down at her.

She held her forehead as it throbbed, groaning and looking up to find the enraged _Razor _looking like he was about ready to kill her. She straightened up and backed away, letting out panicked gasps and eventually a scream as she leaped up and began to scamper away, the sirens still blaring through the room.

Her heart began to race as she finally managed to grab hold of a scalpel, she didn't know what good it would do her against a raging beast such as a Yautja, but she figured it was better than being totally defenseless. She flipped around and saw him charging towards her, as she let out a squeal and threw the knife at him, striking him in the shoulder to her surprise. He stopped midway, and stared at the object that was stuck in his arm before looking back up at Heather.

"Damn!" She cursed, quickly making her way around him, throwing anything at him that she could reach. "Why haven't they shown up yet!" She yelped, finally getting to the door and punching violently at the panel in front of her to open it.

She let out another scream when she turned around and found him charging back towards her, she collapsed to the floor and threw her arms up in a defensive manner, right when a loud whirring noise was heard beside her ear as she looked up and found security officers entering the room and electrocuting the raging beast with shock sticks. Panting heavily, watching _Razor _collapse to the floor in an agonizing roar, she lowered her arms as an officer walked beside her and yanked her up.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

She nodded tentatively, looking back and forth between him and the Yautja. "I-I'm fine..." She stammered.

"Your wrist is red." The officer said, examining her fairly pale arm.

She raised her arm and looked at it. The pink blurred line did show up quite well on her, since she was unusually pale. "Oh...he...kind of snapped his arm free and grabbed my wrist." She said, watching them knock the creature out as it collapsed, unconscious.

"We'll take care of him." He said before walking off. "What about the others?" He asked, looking at the three other Yautjas still strapped to their tables.

Heather shook her head. "N-no. They didn't do anything. They're fine." She said, watching them place the palest Yautja on a stretcher before walking out with his unconcious body. "What're you gonna do with him?" She asked.

The main officer looked at her strangely, after hearing her call it a 'him'. "_It _will be isolated for a couple of days until we can discipline it. This happened once before, but we're going to take precautions this time, just to be safe." He said, walking out of the room.

Heather's eyebrows furrowed. _"This has happened before? What's he talking about?" _She thought.

* * *

Finally getting a break from Heather's recent outrageous incident, she was able to get herself a coffee and relax in the lounging room while another scientist took her place on experimenting with _her _Yautjas. She dreaded when she would have to go back to running tests on them after she'd healed up and the pale Yautja had been calmed down with enough drugs. Maybe she would have more luck next time? Maybe. She almost got killed earlier, what were the odds?

She grimaced at the thought.

Staring into the swirls of her reflection in the coffee in her cup, she knew that she wouldn't have any other choice. She'd just have to be more prepared next time, was her only thought.

"Kitty!" She looked up to see Jason and the pink haired Spanish girl running up to her, with worried expressions.

"Are you alright!" Jason asked, taking her hand in his.

"We heard about the incident in your experiment room. Is everything alright?" The other asked.

"I'm fine, Corona." Heather nodded. "He just snapped loose is all." She stated, yet again.

The two looked at each other, questioning why she called 'it' a 'him' as well. "Just snapped loose!" Corona shouted. "It nearly killed you!"

"I know that!" Heather snapped back. "He was still under the effects of the drugs so he was slowed down just a bit." She lied. He was damn well conscious and well aware of what he was doing.

Corona and Jason gave each other uneasy looks, but shook it off. This was 'Kitten' for you, always seeing her problems nothing more than pushovers. Heather heard her name called from the doorway, and turned to see another scientist with a guard looking directly at her. She knew what that meant.

"They're done." The guard said.

"I managed to drug the palest one enough to make him go into a deep sleep. He'll be unconscious for hours, so you should be able to continue your tests without any problems." The young scientist said. Heather smiled wearily. "And don't worry, I'll be right next door to you in case something bad _does _happen again. There'll be plenty of guards about, too." She nodded with a reassuring smile.

Heather didn't find it _that _reassuring, however. She just didn't want her head getting ripped off. She turned back to her friends and waved, sitting her cup on a nearby table. "I'll be fine, guys."

"You nearly got trampled by a male Yautja. We're coming with you." Jason folded his arms.

"No!" Heather waved her hands in a 'no' gesture. "I'll be fine! Seriously! If anything bad happens then I'll call on you, okay?" She said. She turned back to the guard and the scientist and smiled. "I'll be there in just a minute, okay?" She said as they nodded and left.

Once again, Jason and Corona glanced at each other. Heather huffed in dissapointment, and folded her arms over her chest, staring at them. "Look, guys. I'll tell you again: I-will-be-fine." She said.

Jason sighed and shrugged, while Corona did the same, without the exasperated sigh. "Alright then."

"Just one question." Heather spoke up before they made it out the door.

"Yes?" They turned and looked at her.

"When the guards came in and took care of..._what's-his-name_..." She said, intently leaving out the creature's name, not wanting to sound like she was interested in the things. "...one of the guards said that something like that had happened before. Do you guys know what he was talking about?" She asked.

Corona made a strange face, as did Jason, but the way Heather saw it, they looked confused. "You mean to tell me that an incident like that has happened before?" Jason asked, crossing _his _arms this time.

Heather shrugged. "That's what the guard said."

"That's strange. I'll have to ask about that." Corona said, placing a thoughtful finger to her chin.

Sighing in aggravation abruptly, Heather dropped her arms and made her way towards the door. "Well...I'd better get back to my '_buddy' _before he wakes up from his nap, again." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Remember, call us if anything happens, alright?" Corona said and was answered with a wave of Heather's hand as she walked down the hallway.

* * *

Heather reluctantly walked up to the large metal door of the room that had the words 'Room 1000' placed above it, the digital glow staring at her in the face. She sighed and punched a button on the panel next to her, which sent the door to open in its slow, eerie way. She stood there, dreading what she saw. Her room had been slightly rearranged; the Yautjas were lined up beside each other with enough workspace between their tables, and there on the very end, was _Razor_, his chest carefully rising and falling. She knew that meant that he was out like a light, she could tell when someone or some_thing_ was uneasy, by their chest movement.

However, she thought the Yautja to be more clever than that, so she approached his table carefully and slowly. As she approached the table, she saw his eyes shut in a calm manner, there didn't seem to be any force in his eyes being closed. His breathing was calm, and every couple of breaths he let out that usual purr that came from his kind. She found it slightly soothing, if only part of it didn't frighten her.

She raised an eyebrow slightly when something else caught her attention: his _chest_. She began to mentally kick herself for finding him even the slightest bit attractive. She could say he had a nice body...such a shame though; his _face_. She rolled her eyes and waved a hand as she turned around and sat in her swivel chair, beginning to type up a review of sorts onto the computer.

However, she felt a jolt shoot through her body when she heard a firm growl come from behind her. It was close..._much _too close to her than she wanted it to be. Afraid of what she'd see if she'd turned around, she did so hesitantly, and very slowly. Much to her surprise, there was no Yautja raging around like a rogue elephant, but she saw that her _buddy _had once again, awoken. Actually, he'd _been _awake for some time...he'd just been damn good at faking it.

Her face had gone into an exaggerated expression of shock and worry, as she sat there looking over her shoulder at the strong figure strapped to a table behind her. She didn't dare move, for fear that he might notice her. Notice her? Oh, now she was being foolish. He was looking directly at her. And what really hit her was that he looked like he had some sort of an amused expression on his face. He had one brow lifted, and he was giving her that 'what-the-hell?' look, once again.

"_Shit_..." She cursed as quietly as she could.

For a moment, it was almost as if the two were holding a staring contest, only they weren't trying to see who'd be the first to _blink_, they were trying to see who'd be the first to _scream_. Heather couldn't imagine him screaming, however. Hearing him roar into her face seemed more suitable. She started growing weary of the silence between the two of them, though. She knew for sure now; he was _awake _and staring at her as if she was amusing him, so what would she do? Try to ignore him and go back to her studies? Or continue the stare that seemed like a losing battle?

Having her thoughts turn into a hurricane caused her to blink first, and she could've sworn she'd heard this..._thing_, chuckle, and saw him turn his head away as if he was relaxing. Her eyebrow twitched again and she hesitantly turned back to her work, trying her best not to think anything of it. She began typing nervously, giving off twitched sounds and she would occasionally mispell a word and had to fix it, a sign that she wasn't doing to well to not think of the Yautja that was fully awake behind her.

("I don't think that you want me to attack you again, ooman.")

Heather immediately stopped typing and paled. Did that thing just speak _English_? Or was she just asleep in her quarters having a nightmare? No, this was definitely real. She just wished that it _was _a nightmare instead.

"Did you just...speak _English_?" She asked, not really meaning to say anything at all. She didn't dare move, though.

("I'm not stupid, woman.") He said again as if it was obvious.

She unconsciously raised an eyebrow. "You were stupid enough to get caught by security, the last time I checked." She muttered.

("That's because you were squirming around like an insect.") He stated simply.

"You were going to kill me."

("Maybe I would've changed my mind if you had just let me go.")

"I would've gotten caught, let alone punished. I might have even lost my job."

("Shit happens.")

Heather blinked. Did he just curse? For an alien, he certainly spoke English far too well; it creeped her out, since his voice was dark and grungy, it sounded as if it hadn't been used in years. However, this was not the time to be asking him questions about his _voice_. Heather turned around and shot him a glare as if she'd suddenly gained some spunk, she rested her forearm on the back of her swivel chair and stayed in that position while they held yet another staring contest.

"You're right." She stated, as she lifted up a syringe in her hand that held some ugly looking black liquid in it. "And if you keep threatening me, then I might have to inject you with more of this." She stood up this time. "You don't quite like blackouts, do you?" She put a hand on her hip.

("It's not the anesthetics, it's how badly you jab it into my _arm_.") He growled, annoyed. ("No wonder I black out so much.")

Heather blinked, glaring at him. "Well pardon me, but your _skin _is quite thick."

("That doesn't mean you have to shove it into my arm as if you're trying to kill me.") He shot back. She could tell that he was trying to annoy her, and he was doing a damn good job.

"Well, Mr.Yautja," She put both arms behind her back and bent over a little bit to look at him. "if you try to snap my wrist again then I might just _have _to kill you." She said, darkly. Then she paused. Wait...did she just make a threat? Heather was rarely making threats, unless someone had hurt a loved one of hers. She had to blink once or twice to gather what she'd just said.

She heard him bark in laughter. ("You? Kill me? You seemed to fail, last time. Knocking me out doesn't count, let alone stabbing me in the arm with a _scalpel_, you know.") He said, this time, he tilted his head left and right enough to make his neck pop intentionally. Heather swore she blushed at seeing his muscles move around his chest and collarbone when he did that.

"Jesus Christ! I can't believe that I'm talking to you! I'm a terrible conversationalist and yet here I am talking to a damn alien as if he was my _buddy_." She flew her hands up in the air. "Be quiet and let me finish typing, here!" She grumbled and slammed herself back into her chair and began typing angrily. She had a headache now. She couldn't believe that she'd just almost had a conversation with an _alien_.

Able to hear some noise over her loud typing, she tried to calm herself down a bit and listen to what she heard. Was he trying to escape again, or...

_("You're more annoying than Adamantine.")_ She didn't swear...no, she _knew _that one of the others spoke, she could tell by a slight bit that this other one had a different tone in their voice.

This time, without the hesitance, she turned around and looked at the Yautjas curiously. They weren't moving, or struggling, Razor looked the same as he did a few seconds ago; giving her that dementing stare. She scanned the others carefully, and saw something that she dreaded: the _others _were awake as well.

Her eyes widened, once again. "Oh, for the love of Manson!" She groaned aloud.

("Who?") She saw the smallest Yautja ask.

("Shut up, Bleeder. I don't feel like getting zapped again.") Razor stated, closing his eyes as if he was attempting to go back to sleep.

"_All _of you shut up! I can't believe this is happening...how can you _talk_, let alone speak English!" Heather exclaimed, putting her hands on her head.

("We have mouthes.") Razor said; he would've pointed to his mandibles, but he forgot his arms were strapped much more tighter to the table.

"I am growing quite tired of your blunt sarcasm." Heather glared down at the pale Yautja.

("Hnn...") The way he motioned his eyes made him look as if he went into a sarcastic thoughtful state. ("...let us go and then I'll shut up.")

"You _really _think I'm stupid enough to do that, don't you?" She stared at him.

("In a manner of speaking, yes.")

"Ugh."

She slapped a hand on her forehead and slowly dragged it down her face; a gesture showing that she was beyond aggravated. She took one last look at them before glancing at the clock, which read as one o' clock in the morning already. No onder she was so easily irritated, she'd usually get grumpy after midnight, unless she drank an energy drink, then she'd be bouncing off the walls.

"This..." She moved her arms in an 'okay-calm-down' gesture. "...is _so _not how I wanted to spend Thursday night." She dropped her arms and went back over to the panel to finish up typing. She knew that her shift was almost over, so she'd better get that review typed up if she wanted to get to her quarters early tonight. She began typing as fast as she could, because the longer she was around these Yautja, the more she became nervous and she did _not _like being nervous.

Heaving a relieved sigh, she hit the 'return' key and stood quickly, grabbing her lab coat and quickly making her way towards the door. She began typing in the release password until she stopped midway after hearing a loud clanging noise.

"_Not again..."_ She thought timidly. Not wanting to turn around, she punched in the last letter and hit 'return' again, followed by the hissing sound coming from the edges of the doors as they began to open slowly.

Heather didn't have to turn around to know what happened. _One _of them had broken loose yet again, she just didn't know which one it was. She pretended to act as if she didn't hear it, because if she began to move around again, then she'd just wind up in the same situation she was in earlier. She did _not _want that to happen. Though sadly, even if she didn't want it to happen, something in her gut told her that she had no way out; that she was about to repeat the same thing over again.

She glanced very carefully over to the control panel she was just at, and wondered if she'd have enough time to hit the alarm button before anything happened. However, while she was looking, she noticed that it _wasn't _Razor who had snapped free, but it was the table next to him that was empty.

"_Oh, shit...which one was it? There's the brown one..."_ She examined very carefully, trying not to turn all the way around. All she had was the faint reflection of a small mirror nearby. _"...and that...__**pissy **__one...the green one's still there...there's the tan one...wait..."_ She stopped, trying to remember which one the last one was. _"...where's the bigger guy?" _Her eyes were as wide as saucers once her realization had registered in her mind.

"Oh...fuck..." She spat quietly, suddenly seeing a threatening shadow engulf her body. She already knew who it was.

Almost as if she wasn't in control of her actions anymore, she knew the door was opened, but instead of running out, she ran directly towards the panel again, letting out a scream.

("Not this time, ooman!") The larger creature roared and shot towards her.

"Eeurraghh!" Heather shrieked and literally made a long leap into the air, her arm aiming for the red button. She already knew that her landing was going to hurt..._badly_. But she didn't want to be careless like last time. She then saw her fist slam onto the red button, as her face landed on one of the screens, inevitably making it crack slightly, while the rest of her body was left sprawled across the whole panel in front of her.

Again, that ear-splitting alarm went off, causing the larger Yautja to stop in his tracks. Heather couldn't help but let out a chuckle at him.

"HAH! Slowpoke!" She pointed at him while taunting.

She silenced, however, once she saw his upper mandibles form into a grin. Before she could move, much to her surprise, he had charged towards her and yanked her up over his shoulders.

"What the hell!" She squealed.

("Who's the slowpoke now?") He barked in laughter, attempting to make his way to the upper air vent, that seemed to be large enough for both of them to fit.

"PUT ME DOWN, LIZARD MAN!" Heather screamed and beat her fists into his back. She knew she wasn't doing any good; _this _Yautja was two times the size of the other three, not to mention that he was toned _everywhere_, it was hard for her to believe that she could feel his shoulderblades at all. She never understood why they were all so muscular.

("Sorry, can't do that--and stop beating onto my back, that's really annoying.") He said.

"YOU'RE the one who's annoying! Put me down or I swear I'll--I'll..._damn it_, PUT ME DOWN, NOW!" She squealed again.

She heard him chuckle at her, which enraged her more. ("Feisty ooman female, aren't you?") He stated. Her face formed into an evil sneer. He took a harder grip on her as she felt him leap up into the opening where the vent was, as her vision adjusted to what just happened; her eyes weren't used to shifting that quickly from speed.

("HEY! Grinder! Where the hell are you going?") Her grin came back, however, when she heard Razor shout. She'd hoped that at least the person he claimed as 'Grinder', would leave him behind. He was annoying her a great bit.

("I'm going to get help.") He turned around and shrugged as if it was obvious to them.

("What! You're just leaving us here without trying to break us out?")

("...Yeah, pretty much. I'll be back.") He said, before turning around and taking off through the shaft.

("**GRINDER!**")

Heather couldn't believe she felt herself laugh at Razor. She was being kidnapped, or maybe even being held hostage, and yet she was laughing at the other Yautja that was annoying her so? This whole day was confusing to her.

("What is so funny?") _Grinder _looked at her curiously, grinning a slight bit.

She pointed nonchalantly towards the entrance while he kept running, she let out a chuckle. "Now _that _was funny." She said, hearing him laugh. She _had _to make a note in her mind: a Yautja's laugh was...creepy.

"So, are you planning on telling me what you're doing with me?" She asked, suddenly snapping back to reality.

("Not a chance. You might be useful. I may tell you later, though, once I get my comrades out of here.") He said, jumping down from a metal bridge that hung directly over a few guards. She gulped.

All she had to do now was play the waiting game, and let this big brute get through with his business. She knew that if she tried to struggle, then he might do her in without a second thought. If it meant for her to live just a little bit longer, then she'd wait as long as she'd have to. She certainly didn't like where this was going. This just wasn't her day.

-------------

**TRANSLATIONS**

**Tarei hsan:** Bug, unworthy opponent

**C'jit:** Generic curse word, 'Shit'/'Damn'

**Hulij-bpe lou-dte kale:** Crazy child maker (crazy female)

R&R:D thanks in advance for reading:3


	3. Monster

A/N: agh. thank you all sooo much for reviewing! D: i must say that i don't like it when i read a good fanfic, but it's left unfinished and it has been abandoned by the author, so i never know what happens next. whether my fic is good or not, i promise i will try to prevent that from happening! as long as y'all keep reviewing and let me know how i'm doing, i will keep updating :D and excuse any typos.

and one question...does anyone know how i can put a question mark and an exclamation mark together without having one vanish? 0.o i checked my other chapters and they wind up looking like "?" instead of "?!" it's aggravating XD;

anyway, onto the chapter!

* * *

**Message Three: Monster**

"Are you going to kill me?"

("Must you keep asking that?")

"I'd like to know how much longer I'll live, if you don't mind."

Heather was growing impatient. And much to her dismay, she couldn't believe that she was talking to this thing. This _Grinder _still had her in his grip, and if she remembered the whole place correctly, he had found his way to one of the holding rooms where some of their experimental cyborgs. She had no watch on her, so it was difficult to keep up with the time. It felt like she'd been carried for hours, though, and her stomach was aching from being pressured against his shoulder for so long.

"Could you at least put me down? I feel like I've had a hundred bricks dropped onto my gut." She stated vigorously.

She heard him grunt in annoyance, but he did so without complaint, but he kept a firm grip on her arm to keep her from running away. This made her scowl, since that was _one _of her ideas as soon as he'd let her down. She just stared at him as he examined the room below the large vent they were currently standing in, soon turning her attention to what he was looking at. Below them was a large, white cylindrical room, with nude prosthetic bodies scattered around, some on metal tables, some standing up as if they were zombies. She also spotted one guard and a female scientist in the room as well, and when she glanced back at Grinder, she knew that if he was going to escape this place, then he'd have to do a little killing.

She certainly didn't want to get caught in between, but she knew that she had no choice if she wanted to remain alive. She just heaved a sigh, and didn't dare to struggle against him.

Once again growing impatient at how long it took him to stalk and examine his prey, she leaned forward attempting to make eye contact with him, and gave him a rather sarcastic expression. "Are you going to stand here all day?" She asked.

("I'll stand here until I figure out a way to leave this place.") He grumbled angrily.

Again, she found her mind losing control of her actions, she looked at the two below her and then back up at him. "If you want to escape then you'll have to kill them." She blurted, blinking a couple more times at her own words.

He looked up at her as if she'd lost her mind. She hated it when they looked at her like that. She raised her eyebrows and moved her head and free arm in a gesture that told him 'Well?'. His attention was drawn to her this time, however, and she becan to rapidly become uncomfortable at the stare he was giving her. _As if she wasn't uncomfortable enough already_.

("Are you attempting to help me, girl?") He asked. She could tell that even _he _was surprised at her statement.

"If it means that I'll live longer then, yes." She said, shaking her head.

("I see you're self centered.") He chuckled. Why was he chuckling?

"I'm not self centered." Heather replied quickly. "I just don't want to die. Not just that but most of the people who work here aren't as nice as you'd think. Mistress Lucrecia has made them that way, and if they disobey her, they'll be in a shit-load of trouble." She said, bluntly.

("Who is this Mistress that you keep speaking of?") He questioned her.

"She's Hunter's daughter...the head of Borgia industries." She said. From what she told him, she knew that he was surprised. She just couldn't figure out _what _had surprised him. "What?" She asked.

("The one with purple hair?") He asked. She nodded. ("Borgia...") He murmured. The way he pronounced it seemed a bit off, but she figured that he couldn't help it, it was obvious that he spoke an entirely different language unknown to the humans.

"Do you know them?" She asked. She could soon tell that her questions were beginning to aggravate him.

("I know _someone _who does.") He muttered again, as if he was speaking to himself. And suddenly, abruptly being snapped back to reality, he looked down at the two humans below them, and then back at her. ("Ooman, I'll let you live if you assist me in freeing my comrades...") Her eyes raised in excitement. ("However...") Her expression fell. ("If you give us away then I'll snap your delicate neck without a second thought.") He said, trailing his clawed hand across her neck in a horizontal line.

Feeling him invading her personal space, she smacked his hand away, which he scowled at. "Alright, I'll help you." She said. "On one condition." He was about to leap down until her last sentence halted him. "If I spot one of my _own _comrades, and if you attempt to kill them..." She placed herself into a kneeling position, ready to leap out with him. "...I don't care if you snap my neck or not, I'll give away our position. You won't lay a hand on anyone that I say to not touch, understand?" She spat.

_("Kid's got guts...")_ He thought. ("Deal.") He replied as she nodded back.

"_Forgive me..."_ She thought, wearily looking down upon the two below them.

Knowing already what would happen next, she pensively locked her arms around his neck before he leaped from the opening and down to the floor. Surprisingly, he barely made a noise, which greatly shocked Heather because this guy looked like he weighed about one ninety, to two hundred pounds, maybe even more than that, and he hadn't made a sound when he landed? She just shook her head.

Closing her eyes and preparing for the worst, she managed to hear the woman scream, and what she assumed to be a snap of the neck. She didn't know which one he'd killed first, and she didn't want to know, however she did hear a shock stick fire up and a shout come from the man wielding it, followed by a different sound, one that sounded much worse than a snap of the neck. Biting her lip, she very slowly opened her eyes to look over his shoulder, only to find the poor female scientist lying on the floor with her head turned at an odd angle, and found the body of the guard not too far from hers. She then noticed something; his head was different.

Different? Ha! Heather mentally kicked herself for thinking such a thing. The man's head had practically been _crushed_, undoubtedly by Grinder. Blood was soon flooding the area around his body, and seeing it spew slightly from his head made her want to puke. She just rolled her eyes back and closed them tightly, attempting to forget what she just saw.

"_I'm sorry..." _She thought again.

Sensing her uneasiness, Grinder shook her off of his back, which caused her to lose her grip as she fell to the ground directly on her rear. He made an irritated noise in his throat as he treaded over her, she gave another scowl and quickly got to her feet, brushing herself off and making sure to avoid the pile of blood and..._other _things that were now close to her feet.

"Well thank you for that lovely landing." She said sarcastically.

("Then don't cling to me, next time.") He replied, turning around and looking at her.

"I wasn't clinging. Did you honestly expect me to leap from that height on my own?" She pointed up at the large vent.

He made a noise and shrugged his shoulders. ("Just hurry up.")

Without further complaint, Heather nodded and followed him. Approaching the door, he looked at Heather and pointed to the panel, a gesture obviously meaning for her to open it. She nodded and stepped forward, typing in a password of sorts, as the door let out a hiss and slid open. Heather had an idea to attempt to run out the door in that moment, but glancing at Grinder, she wondered if she stood a chance. He was directly next to the door, and he could snatch her back in a second. She shook the idea off and followed along with the previous plan: at least try to help him free the others. Then maybe she could report them after she'd helped them get free? What were the odds?

However as she thought, these creatures might not be too trusting. What if they killed her anyway even after she'd helped them? She wanted to avoid that. She had to come up with a plan _now _or she might not ever know, and she seemed to _not _want to know at this point.

Noticing that she was off in another world, Grinder grabbed her arm, knocking her back to the world, and dragged her with him out of the room. They noticed another guard ahead of them, and a room to the right that seemed to have their weapons in it, a male scientist was examining one of their masks. Heather saw this, and remembered that her friend Jake had mentioned that he needed to take a look at their armor. She looked harder. He looked familiar.

("Stop drifting off into your own land.") Grinder said quietly, waving a hand in front of her face.

She was about to say something to him until she saw him grab the guard and lift him into the air by the face. She was so baffled by this that she couldn't speak, she only stared. Watching the guard flail miserably in the creature's grip, his screams were muffled, and he had dropped his shock stick, he was utterly helpless. Was Grinder going to kill him?

It certainly seemed so, considering how his grip seemed to get tighter and tighter on the man's face. Blinking once or twice at seeing his face scrunch up at the edges of Grinder's palm, she jerked her head away and tried to cover her ears from the loud snapping and crunching that she heard, followed by a few gurgled yelps before hearing a thump to the floor. She slowly took her hands from her ears and looked up carefully, finding his face looking exactly the same as the previous guard who had his head crushed.

At an unknown speed, Heather's mind went into a panic, and she decided on what to do.

"_Monster_..." She whispered, which caught Grinder's attention. In that split second, she opened her mouth and bit down as hard as she damn well could onto Grinder's hand to free her from his grip.

Surprisingly, he let out a painful roar and managed to let his grip loosen a slight bit, but enough for her to wiggle her arm out of his hand. She screamed and flailed frantically to get her arm free, and she did eventually. She heard him roar again and he began to make a swing at her, as she ducked quickly and stood up before lifting up her leg and thrusting it forward in between his legs.

She could tell that he was in pain.

Screaming again before running towards the right, she called for the guards standing not too far away, as they came and hovered over the pained Yautja, who now lay on the floor wishing that he'd ripped one of Heather's legs off.

"_**JAKE!!**_" She yelped and slammed into him just as he was running out of the room to aid her.

"Heather! Are you alright?!" He asked.

She shook her head quickly before looking back at Grinder, who'd been shocked enough to where he was unconscious again. "That thing..._kidnapped _me, and held me hostage!" She exclaimed, flailing her arms. "I'm getting tired of having those damn things attack me!"

"Okay, okay, calm down--"

"CALM DOWN?! That thing could've _killed _me!" She said. "I want all of them held down with everything we've got, I don't care if we have to use fifty anvils to keep them to the tables either!"

"Alright! I'll call Sahara and tell her to inform the other scientists." Jake moved his arms in a 'calm down!' gesture, and Heather did so, but very slowly.

"And I want a guard standing outside my room." She pointed at him irritably and brushed herself off.

The two of them looked back to see Grinder being carried away back to his holding quarters, as Heather let out a heavy sigh and turned back to Jake, looking up at him sleepily. "Did you know those things can _talk_?"

He blinked a couple times. "Are you ser--" She nodded at him, her eyes still drooping. "Wow." He said, placing a hand in between his chest and elbow, and the other at his temple. "Do they speak in a different language or what?" He asked, folding his arms completely.

Heather opened her mouth to say something, but quickly stopped herself before she answered him. If she told them that those creatures could speak English, then what would they do then? They might think that she could talk to him, or even worse, if she got caught in a situation much like the one she had just been in, they could accuse her of actually helping them escape.

Heather wasn't a very clever person, but she certainly felt like she was right now.

"Yes." She said. "They can only speak in their language, though." She lied.

"Fascinating!" He clapped his hands together. She knew that Jake had a large interest in technology and different species, and of course, different languages. "Do you think I could try and squeeze in a few hours with them?" He asked.

Heather blinked her eyes open. She had to think again. Would that be good or bad? "Uhhh..." She got lost in her thoughts again. "Maybe?" She said, scrunching her face a bit.

"Awesome!" He laughed.

Heather then caught a glance of the clock, which now read that it was officially two AM. She blinked again, and began to feel dizzy and tired at the same time. She looked up at Jake and was going to speak, until a guard came up and asked her if she was alright, yet again. She nodded and told them what she told Jake before rubbing one of her eyes and looking up at them both.

"Can I go to sleep, now?"

* * *

Heather scuffed her shoes on the floor as she slowly made her way back to her quarters, trying to stay awake the whole time. She swore that if she didn't find a bed soon then she just might pass out in the hallways. She never felt this tired before, but she kept in mind that she just had a scrap with two Yautjas in one night, which wasn't normal as long as she had worked here. She just made a mental note to make sure that she kept a knife in her pocket or at least _some _kind of weapon on her when she was around them.

She knew how to defend herself, she couldn't deny that, but defending herself against a Yautja was beyond what she'd been trained for.

She just shook her head, trying to forget about it all. She needed rest, and she needed it now. Her muscles slightly ached from being tossed around so much, and she had a terrible headache.

Glancing up, she saw that she'd gone a bit too far than she'd needed. She slapped a hand on her forehead and groaned, turning around to head back to her door. But her eye caught something...before turning fully around, she glanced back again, and saw a door that had a sign taped to it that said 'Authorized Personnel Only', and one of the terminals read in bold red letters 'Locked'. She'd never seen _that _before. At least not when she had her head stuck in the clouds like she always had.

Heather wasn't a nosy person, but if she got curious enough, she could snoop around pretty damn good. It didn't look too suspicious, but why hadn't she noticed it before? The more she stared at it, the more curious she got, and she knew that curiosity would eventually lead to trouble in a place such as this. She decided to shrug it off for now, and ask about it in the morning.

Finally reaching the door, a pad opened up and revealed a blue screen with a hand outlined on it. She lifted her right hand and placed it on the pad, followed by a confirmed beep, and the doors slid open. Before entering, she took one last look at the door from down the hall, and turned back to enter her room.

After an hour of relaxing and having a snack, Heather had begun to take a shower before heading off to bed. She needed one badly, since she was sweating from the previous incidents she'd been in, and her hair was a mess as well. She felt disgusting, and wouldn't dare go to bed without a cleansing wash.

Stepping out of the shower with a heavy sigh, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself before grabbing another and rubbing it harshly on her head, attempting to dry her hair. She heaved another sigh and sat the towel down, unwrapping herself and putting on her pajamas, catching eye of herself in the foggy mirror, she took a hand and drew it across the glass, leaving a streak. She stared at herself for a minute and scoffed, turning around and facing the door before pushing a button to make it open.

Her paranoia struck her then, and she halted her finger before the button. She knew that there was a very low chance that one of those creatures was behind the door, but she had been attacked twice in one night, and she wanted to be cautious at all times. Giving a final sigh, she hesitantly pressed on the button as the door slid open, revealing her clear bedroom. She saw no beasts, no aliens trying to break her neck, only her black cat that was chasing a string on her bed.

For the fourth time, she sighed a relieved one, but peered around the corner to make sure there wasn't anyone else hiding in her room. She stepped out the, happy that she and her cat were the only ones inside, and plopped down onto her bed. Noticing the sudden movement, the black cat trotted over and brushed against her owner, letting out a calm purr.

Heather paused. That purr sent a chill down her spine. The normal purr that came from her cat was very soothing, but just imagining the other kind, the trill that came from the Yautjas, it just made her quiver.

Pushing the thought aside, she scratched the cat under her chin softly, which caused the cat to purr back in delight. She smiled at her little one and pulled back the covers, sliding underneath them slowly to relish on the feeling of the silk against her legs. She stretched and yawned while her cat curled up against her stomach, preparing to follow her into her sleep.

"G'night, Luna." She spoke, scratching the animal behind her ear a couple of times.

There was a dead silence for a good few minutes, only the faint sound of Luna purring, Heather's breathing, and the usual commotion outside that was always heard late in the night. Heather was almost asleep until a beep was heard directly beside her ear, which immediately made the girl jump.

"What the hell?!" She exclaimed in a whisper.

Blinking a couple of times to get her eyes into focus, she looked on the nightstand beside her and saw that one of her friends was calling her. She sighed in aggravation and pressed a button on the small intercom.

"What is it?" She asked sternly.

"_Kitty, it's Jason."_ She heard him speak.

"I can see that."

She couldn't see him but she knew that he rolled his eyes at her last comment_. "Are you alright? I'm sorry to disturb you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay after your more...__**recent **__incident."_

She blinked but shook her head. "I'm fine, I'm not hurt, I promise." She replied. "I just need sleep. I'm worn out." She said.

"_No shit."_ Was his reply._ "Well, I'll let you rest. Sorry to wake you up."_

"It's fine, I wasn't asleep just yet. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

"_Goodnight."_

And with that, she pressed the button again and silence struck the room yet again. She placed both hands under her pillow and snuggled into it, utterly happy that she was finally able to relax. It took her a while to get to sleep, but she was taken into it quickly tonight, after all the recent ruckus.

Though, much to her own disappointment, her sleep was disturbed by a ear splitting roar that boomed through the hallways.

* * *

A/N: well, there's the end of this chapter. i hope you guys liked it, even though it's a trifle bit short. as always, thank you muchly for reading! review! :D


	4. Different

A/N: well now. i think it's about time i updated! :D i apologize for it taking so long, but i think after this chapter, i'll be getting somewhere with the story :3 and it seems that i've kinda made up for the last chapter, seeing as how long this one is oo; as always, thank you so much for the reviews! it means a lot! ; ; anywho, onto the chapter!

* * *

**Message Four: Different**

"What the hell was that?!"

Heather bolted forward, scaring her cat as it scampered to the end of the bed. She immediately froze, when another earsplitting roar thundered on the other side of her walls, she swore she could feel the bed vibrate even a slight bit from it. Luna stood on the end of the bed, back arched, tail and fur completely puffed out, making her look twice her size. Heather followed her cat's expressions as good signs, and she definitely knew that the one the animal was giving her right now, was one that told her that something was inevitably going to go wrong tonight.

"Damn it all..." She muttered, lifting up her pillow and yanking out a .36 pistol from underneath it, cocking it, and pointing it towards her door. She always kept a weapon near her, no matter where she was at.

She even got in trouble once for keeping a blade stashed somewhere in her boot, and another for strapping it to her arm, since her lab coat covered her arms to the wrist. She wasn't paranoid, she was just being extremely cautious. She'd been in plenty of scraps before, but as stated, she never had an experience with a creature such as a Yautja.

Her cat still hadn't moved from its spot, and her fur was still on end. She began thinking...what should she do? Stay there and just let the roars die down? Or go out and investigate? Hell, there could've been another beast raging around out there for all she knew. Either that or there was one currently in the process of getting its ass kicked for _trying _to break out.

Being the ever curious one, Heather yanked the covers off and leaped out of her bed, keeping a defensive stance while heading to her door, gun still aimed forward. She opened it carefully before peeking her head out, and glancing back at her cat.

"Stay here. I'll be back." She said. Luna's fur softened and she straightened up to sit down, almost as if she understood what the girl said.

Heather kept the gun pointed ahead of her and kept her stance, as she approached the door and stood beside it. She pressed a button on the panel as the doors slid open, she peered out carefully and glanced down the hallway; _nothing_. No commotion, no Yautja trying to escape. She then put one foot in front of the doorway and slid in the front, leaning out a bit to look in the opposite direction, and she still saw nothing.

Then where in the world was such a sound coming from? There was a Yautja nearby, otherwise she wouldn't have heard a roar that agonizing in the scientists' resting quarters.

It suddenly became quiet, so quiet that she knew she'd be able to hear a needle drop. She lifted her weapon up next to her head as she slipped out of her room as quietly and stealthily as possible, as she made her way down the hall. Just then, another roar broke out through the silence, causing her to jump. She flipped around, aiming the gun at the end of the hall, before turning back around and heading in the direction where she heard the noise come from.

She was getting angry with her paranoia; she got tired of hearing her own heartbeat pounding in her ears, which was slightly blocking out the roars that were leading her to her destination. She came to an end, which was inevitably the exit to the working labs, and she wondered if she should go out in her current attire. Pajamas weren't proper clothes to be in while around bleeding creatures.

But she pushed the thought aside and opened the door, as it slid open as usual, she made her way out, gun still in hand. She was thankful though; the labs seemed to be empty, which gave her a slight relief seeing as there weren't any people around getting killed, let alone those who'd see her in her nightwear.

She then paused when she realized she'd come to a dead end. She relaxed a little, and released one hand from the gun, letting it fall to her side as she examined the room.

"_That's odd...I __**know **__I heard that roar come from this end..."_ She thought cautiously.

She sighed in exhasperation and shrugged, walking out of the labritory and making her way back towards her room. Perhaps she'd been hearing things? She laughed mentally at that, once again. She knew she heard a roar, and it was far too realistic to have been just a voice in the back of her head.

Approaching her door again, almost on cue, one more roar exploded from the opposite direction of where she'd come from. She flinched and snapped her head in the direction of the cry, seeing the very thing that she'd considered sneaking into before.

"What the hell is it with all this roaring?!" She heard a voice shout out behind her, a few quarters down.

"Oh." She turned to see a blonde headed man rubbing his eye furiously. He'd been woken up from his dreams, she assumed. "Hey, Alex. I don't know if they're experimenting some more or not but if they are then it shouldn't be this close to the living areas." She said.

"Yeah, well, they need to shut the hell up so I can sleep." He grumbled, staggering back into his room.

Rolling her eyes, Heather turned her head back and saw the door that she'd eyed before. That ominous sign that read 'Authorized Personnel Only' that was just calling her name, she found that she couldn't resist anymore, what with the ruckus suddenly exploding right at her again. Sighing again, she bolted towards the door and glanced down at the panel that read 'Locked' in large red letters. She wondered if this had been password locked, but she thought it'd be worth a try.

Typing in every password she knew from around the base, she found that none of them worked. She knew that it would now be impossible to get into the room without breaking the handle or blowing the door off, which she quickly marked off the list. Just as she was about to think up something else, a whirring noise was heard as she realized that the door was about to open. Panicking, she leaped to the side and hid behind a large vent pipe near the entrance.

"--you can continue it tomorrow. I just want a blood sample by the end of the week." She heard someone say, a male voice.

"But what about the Mistress?" Another male voice asked.

"This is what she asked for. Hunter wants it too. No later than the end of this week, understand?"

And with that, the two anonymous figures walked past the door, and then Heather decided, this was her chance. Her heart racing, she jumped quietly from behind the pipe and rolled into the room, lucky that the door didn't snag her pajama pants.

Recovering from her stumble, she glanced up to see a dark hallway leading to one more door. She prayed this one wouldn't have a password lock. Looking behind her and quickly making her way towards the end of the hall, she looked around; no panel! Thank God, she thought for herself. She carefully approached it as it slid open, she darted to the side, hoping that anyone inside wouldn't see her.

She peered over, and saw no one, but managed to see a room similar to one like her experiment lab. This one, unlike the others, was dark and had smoke coming from the vents, and she imagined it as cold air. She regretted that she was right. As she entered the room, she found that she had grown absolutely freezing within the first minute she stepped in.

The metal that surrounded the room was dark, probably black, and the dim glow of computer panels and lights lit up the area, along with the large light above the dome-like room. She saw four more metal experiment tables, just like the ones in her room, and they too, had Yautjas strapped down to them.

But as she grew closer, the more she didn't like what she was seeing. This was different. They were sprawled across the tables as if they were some sort of animal being dissected in a school lab. She regretted seeing one of them already split open, metal prongs and other contraptions held their skin and chest open, revealing the inside that Heather immediately felt her stomach turn and twist at the sight of.

The other two must've been knocked out, she thought with relief. Their arms had been strapped all the way up to their shoulders, as well as their legs, and she immediately wished that the ones in her lab had been tightened down this well in the first place.

However...she soon found her thoughts going blank when she realized that her feet were numb, and her arms were following. She held herself and continued to shiver violently. Why the hell was it so cold in here? She walked closer to the other two Yautjas, attempting to see for herself if they were frozen without exaggeration.

She felt her heart race with each step towards them. She recognized them...their markings. One was incredibly pale with tiger like markings, the other had a deep tanned skin with spots spread everywhere. She didn't know what made her do it or why, but she felt herself gasp.

"Grinder...Razor?" She ushered out, still holding herself as she held one hand over her mouth.

("_You _again.") She heard Razor choke out.

"Oh my God..." As Heather got closer, she saw that they had stitches in multiple areas on their bodies; chest, thighs, arms, abdomen, and sadly, their foreheads. There was neon green blood dripping softly from the tables, trailing from their wounds, and they looked fairly weak. They didn't look like they were in the mood to deal with her at the moment either. "What the hell happened? What is this?" She said, still only managing to speak in a whisper, due to the temperature of the room.

("Shouldn't you know? You work here, after all.") Razor replied.

("Is that the girl again?") She heard Grinder gag a bit. ("You _bit _me! What are you, some kind of animal?") He exclaimed, but choked at the end.

"Stop talking, you idiot, you're gonna ruin your vocal cords!" Heather said. Wait...why did she care?

("Ours are different from yours. Just leave before my urge to rip off your limbs increases.") Razor spat.

Her eyes softened, and she didn't know why. "Who did this to you and why? You're...are they torturing you in here?" She asked in a gasp.

("What is it to you, Ooman?") Razor replied.

He had her there, for she couldn't find an answer. She probed around in her own mind for a bit, trying to find a reason. "I'm not a sadist, you stupid alien." She replied flatly, managing to place her hands on her hips for about thirty seconds before hugging herself again. "I can handle experimenting but torture is way out of league." She said.

("Is there really a difference? I don't see _you _getting needles and other contraptions being stuck in your head every day.") Razor said, unable to move his head.

He had her there again.

She just shook her head, trying to change the subject. "What are you doing in here anyway? You two were assigned to me and only _me_, no one else should've taken you into their own testing unless I say so." She said.

("They said we needed to be _disciplined _so they mentioned something about pushing up the tests and experiments.") Grinder spoke.

"That's not right. I need to inform the Mistress about this..." Heather said, putting her hand over her mouth again. "What...did they do to you?" She said, approaching them so she could see the wounds better.

("Blood samples.") Grinder groaned.

"For what? What's so special about a blood sample?" She asked. "This isn't right! This shouldn't be happening. You two need to be taken back to my lab immediately!"

("Good luck.") Razor said.

Heather glowered down on him. "I can wheel you guys out of here no problem. The only thing I'd have to deal with is the guards. I'll call on one of my friends and have them return you to my room." She said.

("Well thanks. I feel special.") Razor snorted.

Heather's eyes formed into slits, still glaring at him. "I can leave your scaled ass in here to freeze to death, you know." She muttered at him, but he managed to hear her.

("The cold doesn't bother us like it does you Oomans.") Razor shot back.

"You've gotta freeze _sometime_." She stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

("It's a lot better than having _you _stick me with needles everyday.") He replied.

("Both of you shut the pauk up.") Grinder said atop their voices. Surprisingly, they did so. ("You can't get us out of here, girl. The tables may have wheels but they're locked, and password protected as well. You can't get us out of here unless you know how to unlock it.") He explained.

"Damn..." Heather muttered, biting her thumbnail. "Well...I don't know the passwords for this room but I can try the ones I know for outside." She said, walking over to Razor's bed to look at the panel beside him. Once again, she saw in big red letters, the word 'Locked' glowed from the small screen.

She typed in the first password, and hit return. Nothing.

Second password, return. Nothing.

Third password, return. Still nothing.

She began to grow indignant about this situation, biting her lip in frustration. Were there people here performing unsigned tests on these two? No, she corrected herself, these weren't tests, this was _torture_. Now that she was standing directly over Razor, she stared for a minute. She saw burn marks on his skin, and there was a single place by his chest that looked like it'd nearly been melted off, forming a complete circle as if a piece of shrapnel had punctuated his skin perfectly.

She noticed red lines that looked like whip marks around his abdomen, neck, forehead, and ankles. As she glanced up at Grinder, it seemed that he had similar marks as well, even the burn mark on his chest was in the same spot as was Razor's.

"Crap..." She muttered, shaking her head. "Focus, douchebag." She said to herself.

She continued to shuffle through the passwords in her head, her uneasiness growing every second she heard the tap of a letter into the system. As she mentioned before...she could handle experimenting and tests, but torturing was absolutely wrong.

She was about to type in the last password in her mind until she heard another whirring sound and a hiss come from the door, and she realized that someone was about to enter the room. She gasped and looked around the room frantically, looking for a place to hide.

"Shit!"

("Hide, now!") Razor exclaimed.

Letting out a small squeak, she found a door that lead to what looked like a pantry filled with objects that she guessed were tools, among other things inside. Realizing she had no choice, she darted towards the room and shut the door, hiding from the small window just enough for her to peek out. She mentally cursed herself, feeling her feet against the cold metal. Why didn't she put on some damn socks before all this happened?

She was shaken out of her thoughts when she saw four men and a female walk inside. The men looked like ordinary scientists, but she recognized the woman perfectly. It was her Mistress, clad in purple like always. Her aggresive and cold glare shot down the men as they carefully scampered around to Grinder and Razor's tables, punching at the buttons, which she thought undoubtedly would be the password.

"_Hurry up and get them out of here. Daddy'll see them at the end of the week, and remember, I want those damn blood samples!"_ Lucretia spat.

"_Yes, milady..."_ The scientists said all at once.

"_I really don't see what daddy sees in these...disgusting!"_ Lucretia muttered flatly.

Heather watched for a bit as Lucretia left the room, followed by the men wheeling the two Yautjas out of the room. Heather gasped, wondering what was going on.

"_No! Where are they taking them!? What if they don't take them back to my lab?!"_ She thought rapidly. "Damn it all!" She exclaimed in a whisper, opening the door as quietly as she could before bolting towards the doors and making sure that she kept watch of the distance she held between her and the scientists.

She knew she had to follow them, because she wanted to make sure that they went back to their rightful places. She wanted to confront Lucretia right then and there about what she'd seen, but she knew that if she did so, then she would be in a hell of lot of trouble.

As they finally exited the dark passageway, she managed to leap out before the door caught her pajamas again, and she stealthily continued to follow them. They entered the main labs, went through a room on the left, passed the cafeteria, and came to a hallway that looked like they had entered the labs where Heather worked at. However, the numbers above the rooms weren't familiar to her as the others were.

"_I've never seen these before...where is this, exactly?"_ She thought cautiously, trying to avoid the passing guards as she ducked behind a corner.

As soon as they passed, she quickly and quietly made her way back to sneaking behind the scientists as they were heading into an elevator. Heather let out an audible gasp and looked around, panicking, nearly close to being caught as she found an open door to hide behind, she scurried behind it.

She began hyperventilating as quietly as possible, seeing as they appeared to hear her sudden panic. They were looking around themselves, and peering into hallways, making sure they weren't being followed. Just before they entered the elevator, she got a look from Razor that she couldn't help but inwardly laugh at herself for.

_("You're such an idiot; and here I've known you for only twenty six hours.")_ He thought, and for some reason, Heather felt as if that single look he gave her spoke them as verbally as possible through that one look.

"_I know."_ She thought back, still grinning stupidly at it.

Finally, the elevator doors closed, and she peered around to see what floor they would be on. She waited, tapping her finger against her thigh impatiently, waiting for the numbers to finish counting down. After what seemed like hours to her, the numbers finally beeped with a confirming 'ping!' and in digital green letters, came up the numbers '23', and Heather darted after the stairs without skipping a beat.

"_That's __**my **__floor!"_ She thought excitedly, not in the least bit a good type of excitement.

She rushed as fast as she could, her mind like a racecar yearning to beat all others on the track, trying as much as possible to avoid anyone in the stairs. She heard a few footsteps behind her, who were a staircase or two atop where she was running, and that made her go quicker, as fast as she could without making a sound or causing any unwanted attention.

Her heart pounded against her chest, the more she came closer to her destination, the larger her paranoia began to get to her. What would she do when she got there? She was taking the blasted stairs; by the time she got to the end, they would probably already be gone. Shaking her head, she didn't notice that she finally came to the right door. In each passing second, she was still running, she saw the door handle rattle, and she bolted towards the corner where the door opened and two other workers walked out of it and directly passed her, her presence unbeknownst to them.

Heaving a relieved sigh, she looked around the door and saw no one else coming, she twirled around and quietly shut the door behind her, thankful to God above that the hallway was empty. She now completely knew where she was at; the hallway to her left showed a large doorway leading directly to her work station. She made a noise of delight in her mind and once again, darted towards the entry. She ducked behind the corner, however, once she saw Lucretia bark an order to the scientists as they exited the elevator, much to her surprise. Lucretia didn't follow them though, she stayed put and went back to her own duties. Heather knew all too well that the harsh woman had no tolerance for these creatures; the very sight of them to her made her innards squirm.

She peered around the corner again, and she immediately flinched when she saw Grinder spot her with an irritated eye. Thankful, she saw the workers return the two Yautjas to their rightful places, and she waited impatiently for them to exit the room. Finally, after about twenty minutes, much to her irritation, the scientists left the room and walked off to their own duties, and Heather let out a shaky breath before leaping up and running to the door, punching in the password, entering, and re-entering it to lock the doors.

She flipped around to see them right where they'd been before, and folded her arms. "It's a real good thing I know how to sneak around or I would have been caught, and you two would've been fried on account of me." She stated.

She heard Razor snort. ("That's true, but why did you follow us anyway?") He asked. That was a good question.

She began walking over towards them and plopped down into her chair backwards, her arms resting on the top of the back. "First off, _one _of you giant brutes let out a roar that was loud enough to break the windows, and second, as I told you before; I do not tolerate torture, no matter what species you are." She said.

("Aw, thanks. I feel special.") Razor mocked. Heather just scowled.

"Do you know why they're doing this to you?" She asked, trying to change the subject. She unconsciously ran a finger over one of Razor's stitched wounds to try and examine it, as she felt him flich, she pulled her hand away, halfway embarrassed.

("I'm pretty sure you're aware of that purple haired witch who seems to be disgusted at our kind.") Grinder spoke up.

Heather put a finger to her lips and looked away thoughtfully. "Hm...good point." She muttered flatly. "But they should at least tell their employees about what they're doing to their test subjects. It makes me wonder if anyone else knows about this." She said.

("Probably not. We've kept hearing them mention things like how we're different from the others, I'm not quite sure what that means, but if it's what I think it is, then that means that you all have turned our brethren into Bad Bloods.") Razor said in one breath.

She blinked once, twice, three times before replying. "And just what is a _Bad Blood_?" She questioned.

Razor glanced at Grinder, who was holding an amused expression that had a tiny bit of annoyance in it. ("You and your fat mouth.") He stated bluntly.

"You've got some explaining to do." Heather said, looking at Razor.

Before he could reply, a snort was heard over their conversation, and the looked over to see the other two Yautjas fast asleep, probably been drugged again. Grinder smirked, but their attention was drawn back to the black-haired human that was eyeing the two of them curiously.

("Why do we need to explain anything to you? _You're _the ones torturing us.") Razor replied.

Heather shook her head. "It's not 'we', I don't side with anyone who have a sadistic personality. And frankly, I can't change our race. It's not my fault that the rest of my kind desire intelligence and technology for their own twisted little ideas." She said.

Razor looked at Grinder again, who shrugged as best as he could, seeing as he was shackled much tighter than he was before. ("She's got a point, you know.") He replied.

("Yeah. Side with her.") Razor muttered.

"Oh, come on." Heather threw her hands into the air. "I'm trying to _help _you for God's sake." The two of them looked at her with utmost curiosity. She sighed, "Listen. I'm not like the rest. I don't enjoy causing pain, not unless I get pissed off enough," She said, and saw the two of them form their mandibles into a grin, which she couldn't help but reply back with the same gesture. "and I'm going to try and see into this. I'll make sure you guys won't get anymore _markings _like _these_." She said, once again, unknown of her actions, carefully ran a few fingers over one of Razor's stitched wounds, and much to her surprise, he didn't flinch this time.

There was a silence that stretched for more than five minutes between them, all lost in their own thoughts. Heather placing her hands onto the seat and pressing down for support, trying to stretch her muscles. She then heard one of them sigh, looking back down at the pale Yautja.

("And tell me again, why you're doing this, Ooman?") Razor asked, his eyes closed.

She smirked through her nose, which came out only as a scoff as it sounded, staring at him thoughtfully. He heard her make the noise, and made eye contact with her, causing them to both linger in more silence that became uneasy for the human girl. She then noticed what she hadn't payed attention to earlier; his _eyes_.

Oh, his eyes fascinated her now that she had caught them. They weren't that lovely hazel color like the rest, no. They were a pale blue, which she thought fit his skin color nicely. And while they were having their second staring contest, she noticed that the emotion in his eyes held so many questions; why was she doing this? Why were they experimenting on his kind? Why did this happen? Why was she helping them even after they'd assaulted her twice in a row?

Her being the first to blink once again, she realized that the two were staring longer than comforting. She inched her torso back just a bit, feeling a light pink inch its way onto her cheeks as she shook herself out of her own thoughts. She saw him raise that damn brow of his again, and she waved a hand.

"I'm sorry." She muttered quietly, but loud enough for him to hear her. She regained her posture and looked at him, giving a smile. "Because..." She began, answering his previous question. "...I'm different." She said.

She could tell then, those two simple words seemed to hit him with something, she just didn't know what it was. Realization, maybe? She didn't know. For now, she needed to sleep this all off so she'd be prepared for another day with them, and with that she stood from her seat.

"Well...I've been chasing you two for almost an hour, now. I need to get back to sleep, and I'm sure you two need it also, what with your previous _tests _and all. At least it's not ass-biting cold in here." Her last sentence was meant to have been said to herself, but she managed to hear them let out a chuckle at her blunt comment.

Before she was out of eye range to them, she turned around and placed her hands behind her back, looking at them as they stared back. "If you two wouldn't mind, I'd like you to tell me a little bit more about you and your clan." She said, folding her arms and resting her knuckles on her cheek. "Since it seems you guys might be here a while." She muttered.

("Yeah, sure. Once you tell us more about the security cameras and alarm systems of this place.") Razor retorted.

Heather couldn't help but smirk. "I might do that." She said, and saw his eyes glimmer with deviousness in a second before continuing. "Once you intruige me with tales of your kind." She said. He groaned. "Oh, for pete's sake, I'm just yanking your chain. I'll be back early tomorrow and try to get these incisions cleaned up a bit...they look a little...uncared for." She said, eyeing the whip marks on their legs and the cuts on their arms.

She began to walk towards the door before one of them grunted, and she turned back to them. ("You said your name was Heather, correct?") Grinder asked, surprising her that he was curious to know such a thing.

"Yes, but I prefer people to call me Kitten." She said, nodding. "Why?"

("Razor can be hard headed--")

("I am NOT hard headed--")

("Shut your pauk-de mouth.")

Razor silenced. Heather smirked at the two. She listened to how they used the word 'Pauk', and she imagined that it must have meant either 'Fuck' or 'God damn'. Just thinking that made her laugh more.

("...Razor can be a hard head sometimes, but thank you for doing this.") Grinder finished, with Razor scowling.

She nodded at them. "It's fine. Whether or not you all intend to kill me doesn't really matter," She said, gaining both of their shocked attention, as she bent over a little once more, placing her hands behind her back. "I just don't like seeing anyone being ripped open and then sewn back together as if they'd been chewed up and spit back out like they're nothing." She said.

The two Yautjas didn't--_couldn't _reply to her remark, as she smirked before heading towards the door, waving. "G'night. And try not to scream bloody murder this time, will ya?" She said.

And with that, she left the two of them in silence as the looked at each other pensively.

* * *

A/N: well there you have it. hrm...looks like we're getting somewhere. let me know if i should continue or not and how i'm doing :D R&R!


	5. Escape

A/N: AIEE! thank you all for the reviews! D: as Razor would say, i feel speshul XD oi, this is a hella long chapter, but i think that longer chapters are better, eh? :D besides, like i said, it's possible that they'll get longer. i just got AVPR on DVD a few days ago so i've been really hyped up and ready to write some more! anyone get excited over that? huh? huh? actually, don't answer that question. everyone i know absolutely hated AVPR, but that doesn't matter 'cause i loved it XD

ANYWAYS. onto the next chapter! hope you guys like :3 and excuse any typos x.o;

i own none of the Predators or Aliens or the Borgia family or whatever. all characters _are _mine, though, in this story, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Message Five: Escape**

Heather stretched her arms and yawned, wishing that she hadn't been woken up from one of her best dreams, as she flopped the pillow onto her head to try and block out whatever sound had disturbed her slumber.

"_Do you call my name,_

_Do you stain my brain,_

_My eyes are blurry and I can't see you anymore._

_Do you call my name,_

_Do you breed my pain,_

_My heart is bloody and I can't take it anymore!"_

Aggravated now, she rolled over and slammed her finger onto the 'Off' button, turning her alarm clock off. She tired of hearing the radio blast out into her ears every day, but it proved to be useful in waking her up at times. Sometimes she wouldn't get out of bed, but her alarm clock annoyed her just enough to make her roll over.

She rubbed her eye and focused on the ceiling, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. It would have been a perfect morning, except...

"Goddamn _**birds**_!!" She shouted, slipping out of bed and stomping over to her window, sliding the glass open vigorously, and stuck her head out. "SHUT THE HELL UP!" She exclaimed, flailing her arms in the direction of the chirping, and the birds flew off, completely startled.

Heather never had much tolerance for birds. In fact, she hated them. The only kind that she liked were the carnivorous birds, the regular ones that hung outside her bedroom window and chirped until her sanity was shot, really proved that she didn't tolerate rapid tweeting. It was useless, to her mind. Most people would find the sound soothing, but it just aggravated her.

Finally shooing off the last one, she slammed her window shut, and flopped onto the bed, stretching her arms once more. She felt a soft fuzzyness brush against her arm and she looked down to find her black angel purring into her hip, glancing up at her with the eyes that she found absolutely gorgeous. Golden eyes that were rimmed with an aqua blue color, and a small stencil outlined her pupil, the shape of a leaf it looked like. The color of Egyptian jewelry. She loved that the most about her cat.

Scratching underneath her chin again to satisfy the animal, she stood and walked over to her closet to dress and be prepared for the day.

"Shit...I forgot." She muttered to herself. She forgot that she would have to 'put up' with those four Yautjas again. Such a pain they were, she thought. Though she felt a slight calmness wash over her, which confused her greatly. Maybe she was starting to enjoy their company?

No, she snorted at that. They were just troublesome. They caused her to run a track in her nightwear, and they attacked her twice. Why would she begin to enjoy their company?

_("Why do we need to explain things to you? __**You're **__the ones torturing us.")_

She blinked and then her eyelids drooped. Why did that hit her so suddenly? Maybe she was thinking that what she was doing was wrong? Maybe...

"_It's not 'we', I don't side with anyone who has a sadistic personality. And frankly, I can't change my race. It's not my fault that the rest of my kind desires intelligence and technology for their own twisted little ideas."_

Had she really said that? She sighed and pulled open her closet doors. She needed to be careful, or she'd get herself into some deep shit.

"_Don't want to wear white today." _She thought, looking through her infinite collection of dark clothes that went from any thing gothic to punk. Red and black plaid pants and skirts all the way to shredded tripp pants. She yanked out the plaid jeans and made sure the bondage buckles weren't tangled in the back.

She pulled on a black top and some tight fingerless gloves, and pulled on her white labcoat, which didn't match at all with her current apparel. Lucretia had lectured her before about her wardrobe, but Heather made quite the point that she would not cause any trouble, and not to mention the fact that her temper rose when Lucretia sounded more like a lecturing mother rather than the heiress to the Borgia Industries. And much to everyone's surprise, she did exactly as she said, and very rarely caused any trouble with her dangling accessories and morbid clothing.

Heather got enough lecturing from her parents as a kid, and she was nineteen now, she would have absolutely none of it. She wore what she wanted, and did what she wanted _when _she wanted. She was always secretly intimidated by the higher people in power, but she always managed to make herself look tough.

Which was why she didn't cower in fear and scream for mercy when Grinder or Razor had assaulted her.

Running a hand through her black hair, she combed it out enough to make the blue hair extensions come into view, as she laid her comb down and ran her fingers through it, brushing herself off, and looked at herself in the mirror. She had to admit, if she removed that horried lab coat, she'd look pretty good.

Scruffing her heel on the floor, she waved to her cat before heading out the door, and down the hall to where, as she amusingly put it, to her _fate_.

* * *

She heaved a sigh and leaned over for the two goggles to preform a retinal scan, and a confirming 'beep' was heard as the doors hissed and opened. She made sure that no one had followed her, even though there seemed to be a lot of people scurrying around the halls, it was really busy today. As the door finally opened, she stepped in and turned around, wanting the door to close immediately. She whirled around again and made her way over to the four, and they all appeared to be awake, looking at her incredulously. Maybe it was what she was wearing? Maybe. She rolled her eyes.

"G'morning, guys. Bleeder, Neon, I hope you two slept well, seems as though someone got to you with the drugs last night." Heather smirked at the thought of one of them snorting the previous night.

Reluctantly, the two of them nodded. ("Fine, I guess.") Bleeder commented.

("You feeling alright, kid?") She heard Razor speak up. She just laughed.

"I _would _be if I wasn't woken up by the sound of damn chirping animals outside my window." She said, looking back at him before turning to the computer and opening up a file. "And I'm not a kid."

("Sure. And I'm just a little pup.") Razor retorted. Why did he have to be so sarcastic with her?

Oh. Because she'd given him an attitude before. She had to giggle though, a 'pup' must be what they call their young, she thought.

"Alright, I'm not gonna be performing any painful tests on you today, I just need to take an x-ray of all four of you and examine your skeletal structure." She began. "X-rays take a while, so it looks like you all are stuck with me all day--woah..." Heather had spun around in her chair halfway through her sentence to look at them, until she noticed something.

There was no blood.

Where was the blood?

She looked closer and noticed their wounds were healed. The stitches looked as if they were ready to be taken out, leaving really nasty scars all over their bodies. The whip marks were still visible on their legs and arms. She blinked, and stared.

"...you're...healed..." She finished. They looked at each other.

("We heal faster. Good thing too because we would've died from blood loss last night if we didn't heal as fast.") Grinder spoke.

Heather gulped. She felt bad for leaving them unattended if they needed to be taken care of to prevent blood loss. "S-sorry about that..." She muttered.

("What for?") Grinder spoke again. Heather flinched at how well they could hear.

"Nothing..." She replied.

Just then, another whirring and hissing noise was heard, and Heather realized that someone was entering her room. She cursed and turned back to them, wishing that she'd at least get a call before someone entered her room. "Hush." She said, putting a finger over her lips and whirling around in her chair to type up something.

The door swished open and she turned her attention to the door to see the same four scientists that she'd stalked last night walk in. Her eyes widened and then she shook her head, trying to regain herself so she wouldn't look suspicious. She stood, and walked forward a bit.

"Can I help you?" She asked, a tiny bit of annoyance in her tone.

"We came to take these two into the interrogation room, Mistress Lucretia wants us to examine them a bit closer." He said darkly, Heather could see the lust for agony in his eyes, as he gestured towards Bleeder and Neon.

The other two began to walk over to their tables and unlock their wheels, as Heather stepped forward and shoved them away. "I'm sorry, but I've got to do an x-ray on all four of them, and it needs to be done _today_." She said defensively. Why was she getting so defensive?

"Mistress Lucretia ordered it!" The first one retorted, the other three looking as if they didn't know what to do.

"Mistress Lucretia can approach me about it and state her very reasons to my _face _instead of sending her lackeys to do her work for her!" Heather snapped back, pushing the other two away completely and standing in front of their tables. Realizing what she'd said, she gasped a small bit. She was digging her own grave_. "Shut up, Kitt'n...keep your mouth shut!"_ She thought worriedly.

"Miss Adams," The first one approached her, hands still behind his back, and with a rather agitated look on his face. "you've never caused us any trouble before. Don't make me put a bad word in to Hunter on your behalf." He said.

Heather flinched a bit, but tried her best to keep from showing it. She wasn't afraid of Lucretia, not one bit. The purple haired wench was just a woman who used other people to do her work for her, if she was locked in battle by herself, all she would do is scream and yell obscenities until her opponent was intimidated by just her yelling. Heather knew she'd win a battle easily against the woman.

But Hunter? That man could make her vertebrae tremble until it locked up like she'd been frozen by just his stare. He could be calm and understanding very few times, but on the other note, people cowered in fear at just hearing his name. He was a strange one, Heather knew of that. He'd been disappearing for days and would come back looking less and less human. Heather didn't know exactly what he was doing to himself, but whatever it was, she doubted that she'd like to know.

So what was she to do? "Hunter wouldn't do anything harmful to me unless I did something terribly drastic. And I highly doubt that interrupting your..._interrogation_..." She paused, looking at the man dubiously. "...would be anything drastic." She finished.

"_Stop it, Kitten, you're digging a deeper hole! Hunter will fry your ass!"_ One voice said.

"_You know that torture is wrong. So what if they're aliens? They just wanted to be free again."_ Another voice said.

She shook her head and clamped her eyes shut, placing her hands behind her own back and did not move from her spot. The scientists looked at her questioningly, but she sighed through her nose and looked back at them, her once curious gaze formed into a threatening glare.

"I highly suggest you leave right now, or I, myself, will tell Hunter that not only did you try to disrupt my studies, but you also tried to do it with force as well." She spat. The other three cowered, but the other stood defiantly.

Another pause. Heather realized that she was having another one of those dreaded staring contests, and this time, it was with someone that she _didn't _like, one that made her queasy. She knew that the four Yautjas were watching her with utmost curiosity and wonder, she didn't have to turn around to realize that. She could feel the burn of all of their eyes gazing directly onto her back.

Without her noticing, however, the four of them glanced sharply at one another, all of their expressions rendering the same question: _What the hell is she doing and why?_

Finally, after a few minutes if uncomfortable silence, and she realized that the man was never going to blink, but she refused to lose this time. His stare was making her insides turn; almost as if he was probing around in her mind for answers, among..._other _places as well. She hated the men in this place. They had no decency.

Finally, he nodded to her before stepping back once. "Miss Adams. I will see that your message will personally get to Hunter and Lucretia very soon." He said as he turned around and exited with the other three.

Heather wasted no time in rushing over to the panel and punching furiously on the buttons, making sure that the door was damn well locked this time. A confirming 'beep' was heard as the door finally closed, and the sound of machinery shuffling beneath the door was heard, a few loud clicks, and the door was sealed.

She sighed in relief and turned around, leaning on the wall to stable herself. "Ooh that was close." She said.

("Why did you do that?") Neon spoke up. The other three were lost for words.

"I _really _don't know." She said with sarcasm, even though it really was the truth.

Ignoring their stares, Heather walked over to her chair once again and plopped down into it, regaining her previous position, she hit the return key on the keyboard and turned back to Razor, folding her arms on the head of the chair again. "Now. To continue our previous conversation, what is a Bad Blood?" She asked.

She saw Razor look at the ceiling for a minute, as if he was trying to form an answer that she could understand. She waited a minute, and gave him time to gather his thoughts, when finally he heaved a sigh, one that told her that he was either aggravated or just..._tired_.

("To put it in your words, a Bad Blood is like a criminal. A Yautja losing his mind, one who doesn't know the difference between good and bad.") He explained.

That seemed highly accurate to her, since the other Yautjas that they had locked up in this place would always lash out at anyone that came across their sight, even if it was another one of their kind. They were always violent, they rarely broke loose like these two however, they were just dangerous to be around. There _were _some that seemed as if they still had their mind with them, but she assumed that was probably because they hadn't lost it just yet.

"_So...it's almost like..." _She thought for a minute, trying to form her own words on the matter. _"It's almost like they were innocent people being locked up in a madhouse, only to be turned into the very thing they were accused of being."_ She thought sadly.

Another silence stretched for a while, before he spoke up again. ("Our people have no tolerance for a Bad Blood. They're either killed on the spot, or executed during a trial on our home planet.") He said.

Heather let her chin rest on her arm, looking at him. Now she understood. They were no different than her kind, they were just people, _innocent _people, being locked up in a mental house just to be driven crazy. She was already aware that their kind hunted her own, they would take their skulls and spinal columns as trophies, skin their bodies and hang them wherever. But as she saw it, how were they any different from humans? Humans hunted deer just so they could stuff them and put their heads on their walls, people skinned leopards and rabits to put their fur on clothing. No, she saw no difference.

The gore level could have been drawing a line, but she remembered slaughter houses, the skinning process, and other things that she didn't even want to think of. She shook her head. They were no different.

She understood now. Her kind began capturing them and torturing them just like they did anything else that could be hung on a wall for display. Just hearing him explain that made her wonder if they needed to be kept here.

"_No! Don't you dare start thinking of such a thing! They still can't be trusted!"_ That voice in her head screamed.

She continued to stare into space, not realizing that she was staring directly at Razor. She had seen animals being tortured and abused before, and the very thought of it would bring her to tears, seeing as she had a cat for a companion herself. She'd seen people and children being mistreated as well as abused, and that would bring her to tears all the same. She always hated seeing that. She only just realized that she was no different from the others.

She always kept it to herself, but she knew animals had emotions. She knew that they could do and speak more through their eyes than anything else, and the more she looked at the four in front of her, the more she saw herself being placed in the same spot as the abusers. She didn't want to be labelled such a thing. She was always one to help people, not to hurt them. What was she doing now? She was abusing these creatures who only sought to be free again, to be able to smell fresh air, see their homeworld again, and to be free of the agonizing contraptions that were forced onto them every day.

"_Look at you. You're no different."_

She began to feel her heart race. Suddenly, she almost didn't hear the commotion coming from the other side of her door, and it sounded like someone was trying to force her door open. She would certainly be in trouble if they caught her with her door locked. She hadn't thought about that one.

("Hey, kid...") Grinder pressed, trying to knock the girl out of her thoughts. ("Someone's trying to break in here.")

There was a sizzling sound and electricity snapping, and the shouting began to knock her out of her own thoughts as she realized that someone was trying to get inside.

"_**You're **__the monster."_

"Oh, fuck it!"

She let out a yelp as she leaped out of her chair and fumbled with the locks on the tables, typing in a password as fast as she could, hoping that she could get done before whoever was trying to break in, actually made it inside.

("What are you doing!?") Razor exclaimed.

"I'm getting you the fuck out of here." She said, finally getting the password typed in. "I'll let you escape if you promise not to kill me!" She said. They all nodded.

She ran over to Grinder's table, typed in a password, hit return, and moved to Bleeder's. After she was done with Bleeder, she moved onto Neon, and finally, their locks had been released, and for the first time in months, they could feel less pain on their shackled limbs.

Though sadly, there was a loud 'thud' that was heard behind her, and she flipped around to see a horde of guards swarm her room, preventing her any escape, as she saw the previous scientist she'd argued with, along with a rather large panic among the other young scientists in the background.

"Heather Adams, you are under arrest for entering a secured area without supervision or confirmation and for attempting to release two test subjects of your own will. Come silently and we won't have to use force." One of them said. She recognized this man...his name was Private Conners and was occasionally seen around her workstation, and one thing she already knew: everyone in the area hated him.

He was an ass, to put it as nicely as possible. He was known to irritate the living daylights out of people, and even the ones who would constantly become frightened or intimidated by the guards, he didn't seem menacing to the people, no. All he did was make them wish they could decapitate him as quickly as possible. Heather certainly didn't want to deal with this man right now.

"The last time I checked it seemed that the area _wasn't _all that secured." Heather spoke defiantly.

"That's why we got security cameras." The Private spoke back. "Stand down or we'll use lethal force."

Heather smirked. "You know, it's so funny. Whenever someone says they'll use lethal force it seems that they either rarely have to use it, or it doesn't seem _as _lethal when they _do _use it." She said.

"Don't push me, Adams. I _will _cut you down if I have to!" He spat.

"Look at this!" Heather shouted, pointing towards the four behind her, who hadn't moved once. "How would _you _like it if that was _you _locked onto those tables?!"

"That does it! Everyone fire!"

Heather swore she felt her breathing cease and her heart beat skip a beat for three seconds before she clamped her eyes shut awaiting her fate. The next few seconds all seemed like a blur to her, so fast that she felt her stomach twist and prepare to hurl up the rest of whatever food she had stored in it. She heard gunfire break out, and she felt one slice past her left arm, inevitably leaving a small gash near her shoulder. She would have screamed if she didn't feel someone's hand clamp over her mouth and catch her in a tight grip.

Was it Grinder? No, Grinder was much taller and more muscular. Maybe she was being attacked by one of the guards? No, they were firing in all directions. Razor? Possibly. But what about Neon and Bleeder? Were they not too far behind? She hoped so.

She felt someone leap off the ground, and she felt like she was bungie jumping, which she had never attempted to do before in her life. It felt like she was falling a great distance, now _that _she _had _experienced, except this time she was falling the wrong way.

Finally feeling her rescuer land firmly on the ground, she felt a slight relief run over her, which was followed by a sharp pain in her left arm, followed by a major dizziness in her head as her vision swirled around while her eyes tried to adjust to what just happened. She saw they were heading in the exact same direction that Grinder had taken her through.

"Ah! W-wait!" She finally managed to speak.

("Don't talk, they should have our weapons stored in this place somewhere. We'll find a medicomp and seal up that wound of yours.") Razor spoke.

("Wait, what if our healing kits won't work on Oomans? It might hurt her even worse.") That was Bleeder, who seemed to be right to Razor's left.

Razor paused. ("Good point.")

"I said wait! If you go through this vent then you'll wind up in another study room, there's sure to be guards in there after what happened last time!" Heather said.

They paused oncet they were past the walkway. ("Yeah. Funny story...") Grinder spoke, almost nervously.

("What'd you do _this _time?") Neon came up behind him and slapped him on the shoulder. ("Don't you ever _think _before you run around snapping people's necks??")

("Not really.") Grinder admitted, placing his hands on his hips.

"Listen, all of you. The whole damn sector has put on a red alert, and we need to be careful. We can't go back the other way because if we do then there's a good chance that we'll run into more guards." Heather said.

("Are there any other ducts that we can go through?") Razor asked.

Heather looked about as if she was looking for another way, but she flailed her arms in exhasperation and just whined. "I don't know, I don't think there are."

("Calm down. If we need to kill a couple more guards then we'll do it no problem.") Grinder said, waving a hand.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "You're still injured."

("And are you in any position to speak?") Razor retorted, eyeing her injured arm.

She sighed. "No. Just...be careful, would you?" She said. They all exchanged glances, curious as to why she was acting so..._sympathetic_.

("We'll head out the same way Grinder went, and then you can lead us the rest of the way out.") Razor said. Heather nodded and waved a hand.

"There's an opening in the next sector directly next to mine, there are a lot of aircrafts and hovercars that come through there to drop off prisoners and new test subjects, so if we could get there in time, we might be able to sneak onto one of the carriers." Heather said. "If we take care of the driver, we can escape just fine." Everyone nodded, liking the idea.

("We need to get our weapons first, our armor as well.") Grinder said.

"There's an armory where we keep our prisoners' belongings in, it's in the sector right next to the hovercraft drop off." She said, moving her arms around as if trying to explain the whole area. She hadn't noticed that she was panting the whole time, feeling lightheaded from the blood loss.

Just then, her eyes began to roll back into her head and she panted and wobbled backwards, nearly losing all of her balance before she felt someone catch her. ("Hey, hey! Don't you pass out on us you stupid girl.") Razor. Of course.

"I'm f-fine." She lied. "Just hurry the hell up before we miss our chance!" She spat, suddenly regaining herself. "I'll be fine, don't let me stall you. We can fix our wounds once we're out of here."

They nodded. ("Hang on tight.") Razor said as Heather threw her free arm around his neck and clamped down as tight as she could to prevent herself from falling. She glanced at their position, and she couldn't help the pink that flooded onto her cheeks.

Human or alien, Heather could never help blushing at such close proximity with a man.

("Grinder, you lead as far as you got.") Razor said as he nodded and they followed him, up the few steps, where they came to the opening where Grinder and Heather had been not long ago.

Heather clung tighter as she prepared for another gut wrenching leap to the bottom. With a confirming 'thud', she opened her eyes and found them on the floor, as she snapped her head over towards the door, she could hear screams and panic outside.

"What's going on?" She thought out loud.

("No idea. Maybe they found out we escaped?") Neon commented, putting an arm over his chest while the other was placed over it, his hand cupping his chin in a thinking manner.

"That might be, but the whole sector shouldn't be freaking out over _that_." She replied.

("Oh yeah.") Razor rolled his eyes. ("Four Yautjas broke out and not one of them is the slightest bit drugged, already killed two people in the same sector, currently hostile and perfectly capable of ripping a door off. Nope. They have _nothing _to worry about.") He said.

Heather stared at him, her eyes forming into slits again as she cocked an eyebrow. "You just _love _making me feel bad with your sarcasm don't you?" She said.

("Not really. Just stating the obvious.") He replied nonchalantly.

She sighed and pointed towards the door. "Alright, once you go out this door, you go down two doors and you'll find the armory on the right. I'll point you out to it. And once again, _be careful_." She said as they all nodded. Before they could run out the door, Heather stopped them and looked up at Razor. "Put me down. I have to go get something before we leave."

Razor cackled. That laugh that made her eye twitch. ("Are you serious? I don't think so. First off, you've got a nasty wound on your arm. Second, you're currently being tracked down. And third, I still don't think you're trust worthy; you could escape on your own and leave us in the fire.") He said.

Heather glared at him and rammed her fist onto his chest. She knew it wouldn't cause a flick of damage, but it caused him to flinch and drop her, and she landed perfectly on her feet much to her surprise. "I'm not going back to them! I'm not leaving without my baby!" She exclaimed.

Razor blinked, and she saw Neon blink as well since he was visible from behind Razor. ("Your baby?") He asked incredulously.

"Yes. I'm not leaving without my cat. Now either you all and run along and get your armor and weapons while I get my cat or you can run out and get your ass fried and I won't help you the slightest bit." She said, giving him that annoying gesture of hers again; placing her unwounded arm behind her back and bending forward a bit.

However, he replied with his own annoying gesture, raising his eyebrow and looking at her strangely. He soon felt Neon shove his shoulder and he was snapped out of his thoughts, waving his hands about. ("Alright, alright.") He sighed. ("One of you go with her.") He snapped.

("Bleeder, go with her. We'll grab your armor for you.") Grinder said out of the blue.

("What?! Why me?") He protested.

("Because you're the smallest and your armor isn't as heavy.") Razor snorted, teasing the dark brown Yautja.

("Watch it, lead head.") Bleeder sneered.

("Lead head?! I'm not--")

("_Alright_, that's enough. We can brawl once we're out of here.") Grinder interrupted, shoving the two apart. ("Bleeder, go with Kitten wherever she needs to go and meet back up with us at the dropoff.") He said, they all nodded once more.

And with that, they were off and separated once they were outside. Heather pointed towards the armory just as she said, and she saw the other three of them vanish into the hallway, avoiding a pack of screaming scientists on the way as well, as she managed to run at a fair pace in the opposite direction, thanking God above that the living quarters weren't too far away. She gripped her bleeding arm tightly, trying to stop the blood flow as she somehow managed to keep her vision from slurring, and keeping herself from passing out.

Finally reaching the white halls of her desired destination, she squealed with glee that she was able to reach the place safely, glancing back and seeing that Bleeder wasn't far behind.

("Ah, so _this _is where you came from.") Bleeder commented, seeing the now carelessly open 'Authorized Personnel Only' door.

"Yes. Luckily I managed to..._hear _the two of them scream." She said sarcastically, opening the door without hesitation.

She darted inside and grabbed a backpack she had shoved in the corner, ran into her room, and immediately began stuffing it full with random clothes. Now that she was being chased for releasing four Yautjas, she knew that she most definitely couldn't stay here. She didn't even dare consider the possibility of staying with the four Yautjas she'd just rescued, certain that they would want to head directly back to their home planet after they'd escaped. She would have to find somewhere else to stay. Whatever the cost, she got the slight feeling that she did something _good _for a change. Whatever the cost, she knew that no matter the species, torturing them and brainwashing them was a thing only a monster would do, and she didn't want to be called a monster.

Finally stuffing the last piece of clothing into her backpack, she zipped it up and slung it over her shoulders, making sure it was firmly in place and trying her best to ignore the pain in her left arm. She then ran out of her room and stopped at the door, turning around and looking for the black animal.

"Luna! Luna!" She called, making a 'tsk, tsk, tsk' noise. And in that second, a sharp meowing was heard along with the soft sound of a tiny bell ringing , and she saw her black cat dart from around the corner and straight to her feet, the animal looking up at her curiously. "C'mon, we're leaving, darlin'." Heather said. "Alright, let's go." She said, nodding out the door as Bleeder nodded, and they bolted out the door and down the hall, the black cat keeping a sharp pace up with them.

* * *

Back in the armory, the sound of metal clanging, guns firing, and roaring was heard at the main doors. Neon had already dressed in his light gray armor, a closed in mesh shirt with short sleeves pulled over his chest, minus the diamond shaped fishnet shirts that most of their clan wore. He was raging like mad upstairs and firing his plasmacaster like crazy in the direction of where the guards kept swarming, while Grinder and Razor were still busy with their boots and weapons.

("C'jit, hurry up you two lard-asses!") Neon roared.

("Oh calm down.") Grinder waved a hand as he secured his plasma caster onto his shoulder.

("CALM DOWN?! They're swarming this place like kainde amedha!") Neon said, firing his cannon again.

("Patience is a virtue!") Razor called, almost amusingly.

("Hey! They're back!") Neon announced, firing the last shot from his plasmacaster.

("Took 'em long enough.") Razor commented, leaping off of a table and up the stairs, Grinder not far behind.

"Guys," Heather greeted, trying not to stumble over the bodies that littered the floor. "we need to hurry! They're calling in reinforcements!" She exclaimed.

("Roger.") Grinder said, saluting her with two fingers nonchalantly as they darted from the room.

"_Almost there..."_ Heather thought, trying to suppress the excitement in her body. "There's a ship, time your moves, now!" She said.

One of the men unloading a few boxes spotted the commotion and let out a scream, dropping the box and attempting to get back into the ship, until Razor lifted his arm and fired a net from his wrist computer, which opened up and ensared him, causing him to collapse to the ground. Heather tried not to watch as the net looked as if it was retracting, causing the net to grow smaller and burn his skin. No, it wasn't burning his skin, it was _cutting _it.

She turned her head away as she looked ahead, realizing that in order to get onto the ship, they were going to have to jump. She cursed under her breath, preparing for whatever was going to come. She looked down and spotted her cat, as she swooped her up into her arms and clung as tight as she could, as the cat dug her nails into her shirt. Almost as if he'd noticed her anxiety, Razor snapped his head around a split second and grabbed the strap of her backpack as they neared the opening, and took one hell of a giant leap, Heather's heartbeat pounding violently against her ribcage.

* * *

A/N: ARGH. i am terribly sorry for the shitty cliffhanger, but i felt as if this chapter was long enough as it is, so i would cut the ending short. XD; forgive me. the next chapter should be done soon, though, so no worries :3 as always, thanks in advance for reading! R&R! :D

oh, and as for the translations:

C'jit: Generic curse word, basically meaning 'shit'

Kainde Amedha: Hard Meat/Aliens/Xenomorphs


	6. I'm Fine

A/N: oi, i'm on a roll aren't i? ah well. like i said, watching AVPR again got me all hyped up, so i might be updating quickly for the next couple of weeks. and thank you all for the lovely reviews! :DD i've still got to update a few of my other fanfics (which i am terribly behind on) so...yeah. also, please forgive me if things sound a bit out of place or redundant, i'm not the smartest person in the world so i'm lacking certain words for a few things, and i run out of them quickly XD; so anyhow, here is the next quickie update, hope you guys like :)

excuse any typos x.x;

you already know the disclaimer. i own neither Predator nor Aliens, but most of the characters in this fic are mine.

* * *

**Message Six: I'm Fine**

"AA**AA**_**GH**_!!"

Heather screamed at the top of her lungs, already admitting to herself that she was going to die a horrible fate, as she felt herself leap a great distance to try and board a dropship that was currently trying to depart quickly. She thought the passengers must have already knew that there was a damned riot breaking out inside the base, and were hastily trying to pull the ship away, but it was just too large, and was moving too slowly.

It wasn't so much as Heather jumping. She actually felt Razor tug on her backpack strap as hard as he could, almost as if he was attempting to toss her over the edge. But thankfully, to her, he didn't. He was yanking her along with him because once she was at the edge, she could see that her human legs could never match such a gap, unlike the Yautja who could jump close to thrice their height, and could leap just as far.

She felt like a stone rock being slung into open water and left to drown. There was no turning back now. She just closed her eyes and prayed to God that it wouldn't hurt. Prayed that at least her little cat would survive. Prayed that at least _one _of them would survive. Prayed that if she died, the Yautja would at least remember her for her bravery in helping them escape.

Before she knew it, she was given a rather painful landing into the ship. Though before she could open her eyes to notice, she felt someone's arm gripping violently around her waist, while only her side slammed into the metal wall inside the ship, along with the other four. Her feline companion hissed rather loudly at the close proximity between her owner and...Razor. Who looked twice as pissed off as he did earlier, and also shared the same uneasiness that Luna had felt at the two of them so close. What was he to do? Just drop the girl? No, Grinder and the others would no doubt give him a hard thrashing for doing that.

Heather let out a agonized cry, suddenly feeling the pain in her left arm rise quickly and she felt like she was close to blacking out at such a feeling. The four Yautja were spluttering curses in their own language as the ship rocked violently, finally moving a bit faster away from the dock.

Heather more than knew that Razor was clamping her down, to prevent her from flying out of the ship, where the door was still open, giving them a perfect view of a fairly angry Private among a swarm of guards and officers behind him, as he raised a fist in the air and shook it letting out curses after curses at her.

Razor and Grinder noticed this, and they cackled as loud as they could, Grinder carefully scampering to the open door and waving a hand mockingly at them before he flipped them off. Heather's eyes widened. She didn't know they knew what _that _meant.

("AHAHA! SO LONG BLOCK-HEADS! PAUK-DE SLOW POKES!") Grinder roared at them, as he was able to zoom in with his mask, he saw the Private's face red with fury, which made him cackle all the more.

("If you're through taunting them, I think we have a problem...") Neon spoke up, regaining Grinder's attention immediately.

They all locked eyes onto the frail human, who was now lying limp against the cold metal of the ship, her eyes fluttering unconsciously and her body completely limp.

("C'jit, she's lost too much blood--close that damn door!") Bleeder commented, standing up himself and running over to the door and slammed his fist onto the large button, which confirmed his action by making the door slowly turn down before clamping and locking.

("Hey, kid...wake up. We're safe now.") Razor said, patting her cheek in an attempt to snap her out of her current phase.

Luna was on top of the girl's chest in a heartbeat, rubbing her forehead on her neck and purring as loudly as possible, letting out one concerned meow and looking up at her owner worriedly.

("Neon, go take care of the pilot. You know how to steer an ooman ship, right?") Grinder asked.

Neon nodded. ("Almost like piloting our own ships.") He said, and he was off to dispatch the driver.

That left the three other Yautjas to stare pensively at the black haired girl before them, who looked as if she was losing life by the minute, her cat nuzzling her affectionately as if it was trying to reassure her. Razor tapped a finger on the chin of his mask in deep thought, while Grinder was staring with the same gesture. What would they do? Their healing kits might be too insidious for her, and it might make her even worse than she already is.

So what the hell were they to do?

("We have to try.") Grinder spoke, breaking the silence, almost as if he read the others' thoughts entirely.

("Are you sure?") Razor asked cautiously. ("The last thing we need is to have a mutant with us.") He snorted.

("She won't _mutate_, you idiot.") Bleeder replied sternly, but calmly.

("Razor's right on one end: we can't just leave her the way she is. She'll die of blood loss if we don't seal that wound up.") Grinder said.

("And we certainly can't take her back to our homeworld.") Razor said, shaking his head reluctantly.

Grinder let out an irritated sigh as he held out his hands and motioned his fingers in a gesture that told Razor to hand him something. ("Give me your medi-comp.") He said.

Razor looked at him before getting out the small needled object and handing it to him tentatively. ("You're _sure_?") He said one final time.

Grinder shrugged. ("If it doesn't work then we'll have to drop her off at an ooman hospital and let them patch her up.") He said.

The large Yautja shifted over to Heather's side and pulled her forward, motioning for Razor to remove her backpack, and he did so without complaint, making sure to mind her injured arm. Tossing the bag to the side, he noticed that the black animal hadn't moved from her lap, and she was glaring up at him, ready to swipe at his hand if he dared try to remove her.

("Cursed animal...") He muttered under his breath.

The two of them continued, removing her lab coat carefully and tossing it to the side as well, and her wound was fully visible now, revealing a much larger gash than they'd thought. Razor shifted backwards to give Grinder some room, as he lifted Heather's sleeve up and prepared the needle for insertion. Suddenly, the girl's eyelids began to flutter again, almost like she was regaining consciousness, and her head began to roll left and right, as she tried to move her arms.

She seemed to spot the two on her left, eyeing her worriedly now that they saw she was beginning to waken. "...R-Razor?" She spoke in a mutter. "Grinder?"

("Hey kid, it's alright.") Grinder spoke, patting her thigh in an attempt at affection. ("We're safe now. Are you awake?") He asked.

She placed a hand to her forehead wearily, her eyes still fluttering as she was struggling to regain her eyesight. "...Slightly..." She managed to reply.

("I need you to sit still as much as possible, this is going to hurt.") Grinder said.

Almost as if she'd been struck by lightning and filled with its energy, Heather's eyes shot wide open and she shuffled away from his as far as she could...which wasn't very far. "_Oh_, no!" She retorted. "What are you going to do??" She asked.

("This,") He said, holding up the large needle that made her eyes widen even further. ("is all we have right now to heal that wound of yours.")

"Oh my _God_!" She exclaimed. "That thing is twice the size of any godforsaken needle we used!" She said, shaking her head.

("Listen! If we don't heal it quickly then you're going to black out again from blood loss!") Grinder said, grabbing her arm and preventing her from scooting away further.

Heather gulped. She certainly didn't like _that _idea.

("It will hurt, yes. It will hurt a lot more than regular ooman needles, but this needs to be done.") He said.

Heather gulped again. She didn't like _that _idea _either_. She just stared at him, uncertain of what to do, until she finally nodded slowly and held out her arm again. "J-just do it quickly." She said and he nodded. "I need something--something to cling to...or bite on, or something." She stammered.

Without asking or questioning her, Razor stepped over her legs and held out a hand for her to grip, and she stared at it as if he had a tentacle for an arm, but looked back up at his mask questioningly. Now that Razor looked at her light blue eyes through his mask, he could see how scared, how terrified she was.

It was a very uncomfortable sight for him, since he'd always harbored friendly affection towards any female he'd come in contact with, a reason that he didn't dare blurt out to this human female though. He had no intention of flirting with anyone, or more or less want to fondle them in a perverted manner. He would never do such a thing.

The only people that caused him to be this way were his mother and sister. Two people whom he missed dearly.

Growing impatient waiting for her decision, he cocked his head curiously at her and let out a soft purr, a soothing sound that came to her ears. ("Take it or leave it, ooman.") He said.

Heather blinked, not losing her thoughtful gaze, as she finally placed her right hand in his and gripped it. "I have a name, you know." She said.

("And so does everything else in the universe.") He said, averting his gaze from her as he looked off somewhere else.

("Alright, whatever you do, do not move, or you'll make it hurt worse than it'll already be.") Grinder said, pointing the thick needle at her skin before pressing lightly, waiting for any protests. None came, so he proceeded.

Heather had had needles stuck in her before, some were just a pinch, some didn't cause any pain at all, but _this_...oh, this was a whole different kind of pain. She could _feel _the thing shift into her skin, as she let out a sharp gasp and held her mouth wide open in an attempt to scream, but nothing came out. She tried to squirm, but she didn't want it to hurt anymore than this. She put all of her strength into her grip on Razor's hand, not daring to let go.

The pale Yautja winced at her hand. For a human female, this girl was damn well strong. Her grip wasn't causing him much pain, but the pinching feeling that he began to get was becoming intollerable. The more he looked at her pained expression, the more he had to look away. He decided to turn his gaze to Grinder, who he could easily tell through his mask that he, too, was becoming uncomfortable at causing the girl such pain.

He mentally kicked himself. He couldn't believe they were thinking this now. Well, she _had _saved their lives. That part he couldn't deny. Razor had to admit though, he was definitely impressed that she was able to hold in a scream when Grinder stuck her. When _they _had to use it on themselves, they would always wind up letting out an ear-splitting roar due to the pain, but they would always quickly regain themselves and ready to fight, feeling as good as new.

Finally, after an agonizing minute, Grinder pulled out the needle and examined it, making sure he injected every bit of it into her body, before handing it back to Razor. He looked at her thoughtfully, patting her shoulder softly to avoid striking anymore pain in her left arm. She sucked in a breath through her teeth and exhaled sharply, gritting them as she waited for the rest of the pain to diminish.

("'Atta girl.") Grinder said comfortingly. Heather chuckled at his usage of human slang.

("You feeling better?") Razor asked, his gaze still averted.

She nodded. "A little bit, thank you."

Razor nodded as well, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze before hastily releasing it and taking his arm back. Heather looked at him oddly, wondering if he was still annoyed with her or if he was just embarrassed...or _both_. She just sighed, not wanting to think about that right now. She knew all too well that she would be considered a criminal now, what with her escaping with the Yautjas and all.

Growing uncomfortable with the silence, Heather spoke up. "Thank you...for...well, you know...doing this." She said, gesturing towards her arm.

Grinder waved a hand and shook his head. ("It's fine. _We _should be the ones thanking _you_.") He said.

("We would have killed you at first, but seeing as you actually helped us changed the plan a great bit.") She turned her head to see Bleeder kneeling behind Razor, who was still staring off into nothingness. That was odd. She hadn't noticed Bleeder there before.

She made a face at the comment. "Oh. Thanks." She said. "Wait...where's Neon?" She asked, suddenly aware that the green Yautja wasn't with them.

("He's piloting the ship.") Bleeder pointed behind himself. ("Oh...") He thought up. ("And you jerk-offs owe me some armor.") He spat.

("I managed to _grab _it, pipsqueak! Don't get your dreads in a knot.") Grinder defended annoyingly, pointing to the pile of golden-like armor. Heather heard Bleeder let out a bark of excited conformation as he swiftly moved over her legs and over to his armor, dressing himself.

She looked around a bit to gain her bearings, but her attention was drawn back to the three among her, minus the cat that was purring loudly on her stomach. She glanced over at Grinder once, trying her best not to stare. She saw that he was dressed in some rather..._human _like clothing, which astonished her.

He had on a closed-in long sleeved mesh shirt that hid his original color, causing it to go into a faint grey beneath the shiny fabric, and he wore a fairly shredded black wife-beater top; one of the sleeves looked like they were about to rip loose. She noticed that his legs weren't bare anymore, and that he was wearing regular camo-pants that were stuffed inside black boots that had thick belt buckles strapped over the front. And finally, he wore tight leather gloves with spiked studs on each knuckle. He _did _have on armor, as she saw, and it was a deep gray color.

She glanced in Bleeder's direction, who just finished placing his own plasmacaster in its rightful place. His attire was slightly different: he wore a normal fishnet shirt that was seen on most of his kind, and he wore a plate of armor around his nether region, however there was a large amount of torn black fabric dangling from underneath it, followed by the rest of the fishnet trailing down his bare legs. He wore the regular metal boots, they had spikes welded onto the front where his toes were, and she assumed that they were for increasing damage when he kicked. He wore similar gloves to Grinder's.

And finally, her gaze was immetiately trailed back to Razor, who _still _was in his current position, staring into space. He was dressed in the most human like clothing than the other two, which she still found odd. She noticed that his hair was pulled back into a ponytail, his dreads scattered on his back and some over his shoulder. He had on a fairly closed-in short sleeved mesh top that covered his body, followed by a normal black wife-beater that had, what she imagined to be bullet holes, spread through out the shirt. His jeans slightly stunned her; they were very similar to the ones she had on right now. They were black, and she spotted a couple chains dangling from underneath the armor that was plated on the side of his thighs, and she saw bondage belts attatched in an 'X' from the rear of his jeans. The ends of his pants were stuffed in similar boots to Grinder's, except these had many more buckles on the front, and on the end, she spotted more armor; thick spikes on the tip of his boot to increase damage if he kicked. His armor, was black.

Needless to say, she was questioning more about their clothing than anything else. However, as she thought, she realized this was not the time to be thinking such things. They were certainly considered to be hostile and dangerous to the public now, so it was all in the matter of finding a safe place to stay. She kept thinking the same thing over and over 'You're a criminal now, and you're stuck with four male Yautjas.', it was all too fast.

("Are you going to burn two holes into my back?") Razor suddenly spoke, causing the girl to jump. This thing had eyes in the back of his _head_, she was _certain _of it.

She didn't dare reply though.

Turning her attention back to Grinder, she spoke to him freely. "So...where will you go, now?" She asked.

Grinder looked as if he was placed in a thoughtful phase, as he adjusted himself to sit on the floor instead of kneeling. He scratched the chin of his mask in thought, looking at the ceiling, before looking back at her and shrugging. ("No idea.") He admitted.

"What? I thought you all would have wanted to go back to your home planet by now." Heather said, almost in a protest.

Grinder soon felt a bit queasy at this. Heather could even tell, and that shocked her. He glanced over at Razor, who seemed to be stone solid, having not moved one bit, then back at the black haired girl. ("Well, we kind of came here for a reason--")

("Grinder, I think it's _your _turn to shut the pauk up.") Razor snapped, still not moving his body, but he managed to shoot the bigger Yautja a detesting glare that immediately told him to shut his mouth.

Heather didn't have to ask any further questions to notice what was going on; they _did _come here for a reason, and whatever that reason was, Razor didn't seem to feel comfortable in discussing it in front of a human, more or less, _herself_.

She began to feel the pain in her arm leave her quickly, as she managed to shift forward into a more appropriate sitting position, staring at the Yautja clad in black. "Are you really that timid around me because I'm human, or is it because you just don't like me altogether?" She asked.

Razor snapped his head around her and she could feel his glare burning through that mask of his, and she backed into the wall a small bit, slightly afraid of his actions. ("_Both_.") He began. ("This is a Yautja matter and it is none of your business.") He said sharply, making sure he got his point across. A shame that it didn't though.

"_Your _matter?!" Heather replied. "After I help save your reptillian ass, this is what you're telling me?!" She exclaimed.

("Alright, I think you two need to calm down, now.") Grinder attempted to stop the lightning that was forming between their glares, but he knew it wasn't doing any good.

"No, I'm tired of you treating me like I'm weak." She said, waving Grinder off as she regained her strength and attempted to stand.

("Hey! You're not fully healed yet, sit back down!") Grinder ordered the girl, but she ignored him. Bleeder sat silently in the corner, refusing to get his ass kicked by either of the raging pair.

("Weak? Hah!") Razor cackled, getting to his own feet now, as the two confronted each other and sized themselves up. ("If you weren't weak then you wouldn't have fainted like a damsel in distress after getting a single gash on your arm.") He spoke, eyeing the wound that was already beginning to heal.

As he stared at the girl, he saw that she was putting up a fairly clever ruse in hiding the actual emotion in her light eyes. Behind her angry and confident glare, he could see that part of his comment had struck part of her emotionally. Her eyes spoke that too well. No matter how much she tried making herself look strong, he could see into her true self; into her _soul_, and that soul showed a vulnerable girl who just wanted to be accepted.

"So maybe I'm not a well-built tank like yourself." She spoke, softly ramming a fist against his abdomen. "But I'm not weak, you disgusting alien." She spat in an incredibly calm tone, but they could hear that it was close to cracking.

("Then prove it.") Razor challenged.

Heather let out a snort, which sounded more like a scoff, as she looked at him with utmost disgust. "Why do I have to prove myself to _you_? Have I not proven myself enough by helping you escape? I could've _left _you back there to suffer, and you would have wound up like the others; with your skin peeled open and metal prongs holding your flesh back, revealing your insides for anyone to poke on." She said.

That was one thing that he could not deny her for. And to that, he was utterly thankful to her for that, but he wouldn't dare let her know that...could he?

("I have my reasons.") He said, not doing to well with his comeback. He tried his best to feign everything that he was keeping from her.

"Do you, now?" She asked curiously, though it sounded more like a tone of impatience.

("Don't expect me to explain them to you, either. As I said, this is a Yautja matter, so keep your nose out of it.") He sneered at her through his mask.

"With an attitude like that, I don't think I _want _to." She said, placing her hands on her hips, completely unaware that she could move her injured arm now. "You'd disregard any help from me anyway."

("Damn right, you are.")

"Good, then don't ask me for any."

("Don't have to tell me twice.")

"I'd better not have to."

("You won't, because just talking to you is making my insides churn.")

"The feeling is mutual."

("Good.")

"Yeah, good. 'Cause I hate you."

("I think I could hate you more.")

"I highly doubt that, little reptile."

("You want to make a bet on that?")

There was a brief silence, which lasted only two seconds, and Grinder took this opportunity to interject. ("_**Ki'cte**_, pyode amedha! C'jit!" He roared, stepping in front of the human girl and glowering down on Razor.

This seemed to enrage him even more, however, and he looked up at the bigger Yautja, his shoulders raised and his chest rising and falling rapidly. ("M-di h'chak, mei'hswei!!") Razor snapped.

Heather began to panic. It sounded like the two were about to break into a fist fight, and she wanted to avoid that at all costs. "Stop it, just stop." She pleaded, trying to tug on Grinder's shirt, but to no avail.

("KA'RIK'NA, JEHDIN!") Grinder looked as if he was ready to attack, as Bleeder soon stood to his side and began to throw in objections, himself.

("TAREI HSAN, LOU-DTE KALE!") Razor roared in fury, pointing at Heather.

"I SAID _**STOP IT**_!!" Heather screamed as loud as she could.

Much to her relief, they both immediately froze at the shrill cry, and averted their raging glares to the now trembling girl behind Grinder. She saw Razor grow stiff, and she wondered if he spotted the shine at the edges of her eyes, as she was trying as hard as she could to prevent tears from pouring down her face. No, she wouldn't do that. She was stronger than that. She _had _to be strong, or she'd never survive what she'd gotten herself into.

The human and pale Yautja locked eyes once more. She couldn't see his eyes, but she knew they were staring directly at her from behind that mask. Razor stared for a minute, watching her as he examined her. Her head was slightly lowered, eyes formed into a glare, and her mouth was curved, assuming that she was biting the inside of her cheek for support.

_("She's not weak, I can already see __**that**__. A tough girl, that ooman is.")_ Razor thought, admiring her for how well she was holding up. Most females would break down right then and there, but she was strong enough to keep her posture straight.

"Leave him alone." Heather said. Razor cocked his head at her. "If he doesn't want to talk about it then don't push him." She said silently, but loud enough to be heard.

("Are you--")

"I'm fine."

Grinder and Bleeder exchanged glances before looking at her. ("Are you sure?")

"No." Heather smiled weakly.

The two of them looked at each other and sighed. Razor waved a hand and strided past them, growing tired of seeing the girl just dying to let the tears fall, as he headed to where Neon was at.

("I'm terribly sorry.") Bleeder spoke, finally.

Heather shook her head softly. "Don't worry about it." She said. "Whatever it is, it must be important to him. I don't want to push him to talk about something he doesn't feel comfortable speaking openly about." She said as she brushed herself off and sighed.

Another uncomfortable silence stretched between them, causing Heather to shift slightly in her place. ("Do you want to know why he's acting in such a way?") Grinder spoke up again.

Heather looked up at him fully, nearly having to bend her neck all the way back to make eye contact. She stared at him for a minute, pondering her own thoughts, wondering what she should do. She didn't want to invade into his personal problems, since she knew, herself, what that was like. But...she would most likely love to know why he constantly got upset whenever she so much as spoke a word to him.

Refusing to speak, she nodded carefully. ("I'm going to go see if I can contact Adamantine.") Bleeder spoke softly, receiving a nod from Grinder, as he disappeared off to where Razor had left.

("A few months ago, Razor's family was attacked by oomans, and they captured his mother and sister along with the rest of us.") That small sentence seemed to hit Heather like a ton of bricks. ("However, they released his mother later on, why they did so, is still unknown to us. His father had escaped from the prison on his own, and searched for his mother, but never seemed to find her. So he began looking for his children, and managed to find his daughter, but never found his son.") He said.

Heather averted her gaze downward. She _had _to sit down. So she scooted backwards until she felt a metal bench press against her legs as she flopped down onto it, still not taking her eyes off the floor.

Grinder didn't notice, however. ("The one Bleeder mentioned; Adamantine...") He said, glancing at her. ("she is his sister.")

"I see." Heather said quietly. "What's his father's name?" She asked, trying to avoid the explanation he just gave her.

("His name is Wolf. A well known warrior, too.") He said.

Heather let out a gasp. Not from shock, but not able to hold her breath any longer, as she finally let herself sob quietly, glad that the others weren't in the room. _So that was why he was uncomfortable around her_.

"I-I'm sorry...I s-shouldn't cry..." She said, laughing slightly through her hiccuping sobs, trying to wipe away the tears.

She felt a comforting pat on the head from Grinder as he began to walk off in the same direction as the others. ("There's nothing wrong with crying. You can't keep your emotions bottled up forever, kid.") He said.

She let out one final gasp before giving a light cough, taking her shirt and wiping angrily at her face, desperate to rid herself of the wetness. Oh, how she felt weak. She always hated crying. It made her feel so vulnerable, where she wanted to have a strong, confident personality. She hated it when something so small would bother her like that. She hated feeling weak. She hated feeling vulnerable and capable of being hurt so easily. She wanted to be strong.

Strong like these four Yautja, maybe? Perhaps. They lacked certain emotions that made them completely devoid of showing weakness. Yes, that's what she wanted. Maybe.

Ignoring the fact that it might not happen anytime soon, she made sure that her face was as good as dry before standing, taking a deep breath, and following into the room where the four Yautjas were possibly at.

* * *

Upon entering the pilot's room, she could hear muffled shouts and exclamations being tossed around. Not out of anger, not out of blind fury, but out of irritation and nervousness. She hesitantly came around the corner to find Neon in the pilot seat, Grinder sprawled onto one of the panels, looking at a computer screen like it was ready to end his life. Bleeder was off to the side, shrugging, giving a _'I'm-surrounded-by-idiots' _look. And finally, she noticed Razor, who was sitting on the edge of a dashboard, looking at the screen contently. Oh, that was another thing; his mask had been removed and was placed nearby on a table.

As she walked in quietly, not wanting to disturb the conversation, and listened in. _("You lame excuse for a warrior! I __**told **__you to take care of big brother, and look at the four of you; nearly escaping with your lives from the prison, and with the help of an ooman female!? I'm pretty certain __**she **__could hold her own, unlike __**you**__!") _She heard a lecturing female voice come from the computer screen.

As she looked closer, she could see that it was most definitely a female Yautja, and even _she _began to find the face beautiful. This girl had pure white skin, with black spots plastered perfectly on the sides of her body, along with dark brown mixing in with a bright orange was spread through her spots perfectly; Heather automatically saw that it looked similar to a cheetah's markings.

("Look, I said I was sorry! We're alive aren't we?!") Grinder defended.

_("That's not good enough! You all could've died if it wasn't for that ooman girl!")_

("Alright, alright, it's my fault, I should've kept watch. There, you happy?")

_("Slightly. It all depends if you'll survive the ass-kicking I'll be giving you once I find you! Oh...")_

Silence struck the room as Heather immediately felt the eyes of the female Yautja lock on her, Neon and Bleeder noticing her gaze averted from them, and they did so along with her, followed by Grinder (who was still backed away from the computer screen as if it could explode in his face any moment), and a very pensive Razor, who looked slightly relaxed from where he was sitting.

("Eavesdropping, are you?") Razor spoke up, surprising her. It even sounded as if he had a bit of amusement in there as well.

"_This man is full of mood swings..."_ She thought to herself.

_("Be quiet, brother.")_ The white Yautja spoke firmly. Razor winced. _("Oh! Is that the female ooman??")_ She asked with astonishment, while everyone nodded.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything." Heather spoke, fidgeting her hands together.

_("__**My **__she's gorgeous!")_ Silence struck the room. Razor seemed frozen solid, all while Heather shifted uncomfortably at the abrupt compliment.

"I-I'm not..." Heather stammered.

_("Oh, come now. Come a little closer so I can see you better.")_ And with that, Heather did so reluctantly, and took a few steps where she was standing right beside Neon, who's attention wasn't focused on them in the least bit. Now that Heather was closer to the screen, she could see the female much clearer, and she had to admit the female Yautja looked much more attractive up close.

("This is Adamantine, Razor's sister. This is Kitten.") Bleeder introduced, keeping Heather's nickname in mind since she said she preferred it, and since Razor had his gaze turned away as usual.

"Nice to meet you." Heather said, smiling shyly.

_("Well, now, you look __**much **__better up close.") _She said. Heather blushed.

"T-thank you, miss." Heather said.

_("I have to thank you myself­--and in person when you find me--for rescuing my brother and comrades. We've been trying to track the four brutes down for months but we've had no luck, so thank you greatly for what you're doing.") _Adamantine spoke with so much sincerity that Heather felt her heart gush and want to break. And here she was working for the Borgia family just a day or two ago, abusing them.

She didn't care anymore if Razor was an ass at the moment, she knew now that she would most definitely never regret what she'd done, even if it cost her her job. "It's no big deal." Heather smiled and nodded. _"You dumbass, you have no job now, and you're already probably considered a criminal, and you have nowhere to go at all. Yeah, you're full of intelligence aren't you? Stupid girl, you are."_ She thought wryly.

Adamantine then turned to look at her brother. _("Big brother, I'll put word in to father that you're safe. The five of you meet us at the Serviteur's church on the outskirts of town, it's a well secured area even though there are Ghosts spread around the area, we should be safe.")_ She said. He nodded.

"Ugh." Heather groaned. "This is going to be adventurous; surrounded by ghost-suited voodoo assholes." She said.

_("Oh, that reminds me,")_ Adamantine said, clapping her hands together_. ("Where will you go, Kitten? I mean surely you'll have a place to escape to, right?")_ She asked curiously.

Heather's face visibly paled. She hadn't thought about that until a moment ago, and now again. She _had _nowhere else to go. She knew that her friends back at Borgia Industries wouldn't take her in after what she'd done, and the rest of her family was..._deceased_. She absolutely refused to side with people like the Dead Men or the Serviteurs, not that she'd even make it an _inch _into their kind in one piece. She automatically cut out the idea of going with these Yautja to their homeworld, she already assumed that her being a human, their _prey_, would _not _be welcome in such a place. So what was she to do? Live on the streets? Become a homeless person like a lot of the people in Neonopolis?

Whatever the case, she already knew one thing: she had no home. She had no money, so she couldn't afford an apartment. She had no plan whatsoever. But she certainly didn't want to have these five worry about her and start suggesting places she could go, since they hadn't been all over Earth she imagined, and she had no way of getting to another planet, she did not want to burden them _that _much. Her friends always lectured her for that, but she didn't care. She knew that she was _some_what of a trouble, and she didn't want to be that at all.

So reluctantly, she nodded. "Y-yeah..."

_("You're sure? You don't sound too certain.") _Heather winced.

("You know, we could always offer to--") Bleeder began to offer until Heather waved her arms frantically.

"No, no! I've got a place to go, really, I do. It's in the Dead Men's area near the church, but well secured. I'll be fine, don't worry." She said, trying as much as possible to not look nervous.

As she watched, she noticed that Adamantine (let alone, the other four) didn't seem too sure about it, but the female Yautja nodded slowly. They were damn well clever, she thought.

_("Alright, just making sure. I wouldn't want to have you living in the slums.")_ She said. Heather smiled warmly. _How sweet._

"I'll be fine, trust me." She nodded.

("You'd better be,") Grinder interjected. ("because if I find you thrown out on the streets then I'll have to give you a good whipping.") He snorted.

Heather suddenly found herself laughing at his comment, and she already knew that he was speaking the truth. He didn't have to say that for her to know it. Though all she needed to make sure was that they _didn't _find her on the streets.

_("Alright, I guess it's settled then. I'll meet you guys here, and be careful.")_ Adamantine said, waving at them.

("We'll be there in a flash.") Neon spoke, his eyes still locked ahead of him.

("Later, little sister.") Razor said, waving back to her as she gave him the same goodbye.

And with that, the screen went black.

("Well. I guess we can relax for now, but keep your eyes out for any police; they're sure to be looking for us right now.") Grinder said. Everyone nodded.

("I'm going to get some fresh air.") Razor said quietly, retrieving his mask and attaching it to his face with a sealing hiss and digital whirring sound.

("Don't stick your _whole _ass out the window.") Bleeder cackled when Razor shot him a look, he knew he was joking though.

Razor was about to pass Heather and her heart raced with each nanosecond that was passing in slow motion in her mind, as she muttered when he was directly at her side, her mind causing the world to pause just enough for her to speak, she said: "I'm sorry."

Thinking that he'd already passed her fully, she noticed that he was only partially past her side, paused from what she said. He then sighed inaudibly, placing his hand on her shoulder and patting it before he said a few words himself under his breath, and continued on to the back.

Heather's eyes went slightly wide at his comment, trying not to think much of it, but it still bothered her to a great level, and at this point, she never knew why these things happened and made her feel this way so much.

She just never knew why.

_("Don't be.")_

--

A/N: -snork- Razor's a snippy little ass, ain't he? XDD; aw, well at least he's got somewhat of a soft side. ah well. everyone's like that for a reason, the same with the story lol also, i'm pretty sure you guys are kinda weirded out that these four Yautjas are dressed in human clothing, i'll explain that as well once we get further into the story. there's a _reason _for _everything_! D: -flail- and as you can see, the chapters are getting fairly longer. that's good, right? right? and on a final note, i will have to say that this might be a looong story because i have so many ideas in my head for it. anyhow, i hope you enjoyed this one, and i will try to have the next one up soon :3 R&R!

translations:

**Pauk**: a curse word that these guys _love _using. XD; meaning, 'fuck'

**Ki'cte, pyode amedha! C'jit!:** "Enough, soft meat! Shit!" but in my words, if there was a bigger dictionary on their language, it would mean "Enough the both of you!"

**M-di h'chak, mei'hswei!: **No fear, brother! (the four of them are really close friends, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they called each other 'brother')

**Ka'rik'na, jehdin!!: **The summoning of another Yautja in hand-to-hand combat.

**Tarei hsan, lou-dte kale!!:** "Unworthy opponent, female!" or, as said above, in other words "She is unworthy!"


	7. Reunion

A/N: yays another fast update. this one was a bit rushed, but still though, as i said before, all things that leave you questioning will be explained in later chapters, so don't think i'll leave them in the dark :) the next chapter might take a slight bit longer to finish, due to schoolwork catching me again, but we'll see what happens.

disclaimer: i own neither Predators nor Aliens, but most of the characters (except Wolf and Kelly) are mine.

'scuse any typos D:

* * *

**Message Seven: Reunion**

Heather wasn't sure how much longer she could take the anticipation. It had been almost an hour before they finally found the church Adamantine had spoken of. It was silent, too silent for Heather, as she went stuck her head out of one of the windows to listen to the bustle of downtown Neonopolis. The sun began to set, which gave her a beautiful view of the sea once it came in to view. She yanked herself back inside once she saw the church; pentagrams and voodoo writing spread throughout the walls in the area along with messy graffiti that had begun to wear off.

She'd been in this area plenty of times before when she would go out with her friends to certain clubs, for a friendly weekend drink. She never felt comfortable about being in the place with Serviteurs spread out like a swarm of insects, and could kidnap the girls to do whatever they wanted to without getting caught. Heather and her friends knew how to fight well, they had taken karate classes together when they were kids, and they all wound up in boxing, which they loved to do. They found it satisfying to beat the hell out of someone if they had a bad day.

Heather was usually the only one who would back down sometimes, since she got more intimidated than Sahara or Presea or Corona. _At least she knew how to kick._

("Hey! Get the door ready, I see Adamantine's ship cloaked.") Neon announced.

Heather heaved a sigh and closed the window, making sure it was locked, and turned around to head back to the pilot's room.

As she entered, the room looked exactly the same as it did an hour or two ago, everyone back in their same positions; Razor relaxed on the dashboard, Neon at the pilot's seat, Bleeder sitting on the floor, leaning against a panel, and Grinder sitting atop the same dashboard as Razor (except he wasn't cowering in fear at the computer screen).

("Enjoy the air?") Grinder asked.

She smirked. "It'd smell better if there weren't any _scum _in this city."

("I agree.") Grinder replied, waving a hand as Razor and Bleeder nodded in agreement.

Heather peered over the panel and looked down to see..._nothing_. "What? I thought you said you saw--"

("Her ship is cloaked.") Neon replied, pointing to the top of a building.

Heather squinted, and as their ship shifted to the right slightly, she could see something bending...light? No, it was the sea behind the building, she could see it twisting and turning. Was that her ship?

"I see..._something_." She said.

("That's Adamantine.") Grinder said, nodding.

Heather stepped back and placed her hands together, looking down at the building. She took an anxious breath and heaved it out as quietly as she could. This was it. This is what she decided to do; free the Yautjas and she could go back to her normal life. Wait, scratch that last part. No, now things would be very different. She was homeless. Broke. Would be alone in a matter of minutes. No friends to help her out. Nothing. But in the end...she believed it would be worth it. She always felt good when she would help people, no matter the consequences. It was who she was, and she already knew one thing: she was selfless.

Knocked out of her thoughts as she felt and heard their ship vibrate slightly, she knew that they'd landed. She waited for the shaking to stop, so she could gather herself because she already felt her knees trembling badly. Finally, the vibrating stopped, and a hissing sound was heard from behind them, which she guessed was the door opening automatically. Neon punched a few buttons here and there before shifting the gear on the steering wheel, and stood up, facing the others.

("Let's go, guys.")

They all nodded.

They exited the ship to see that Adamantine's dropship was still cloaked, and Heather thought that was a good idea, because as she was walking down the ramp, she could see a few Ghosts on the street if she stared hard enough. Then out of the blue, she thought of something...

"Oh, my arm!" She looked at it and flailed it around, realizing finally that she could move it.

("Yeah, it's as good as new. I'm surprised you handled it so well, since we thought it might injure you even further.") Bleeder spoke, right behind her. She flinched.

"...Thanks..." She chuckled nervously. She rubbed her arm where a nasty scar was left, and her torn shirt sleeve, unable to believe that it healed so quickly.

("Hey! Adamantine! Are you in there or what?") She heard Grinder bark as he knocked heavily on what she imagined was the door to the ship.

In that second, the ramp flew open (nearly crushing Grinder in its wake), and out stomped a rather..._tall _white Yautja. So _this _was Adamantine in person. Heather's eyes widened; on the computer screen, she looked like she'd be about Bleeder's height. Hah, boy did she prove the human wrong.

("Of _course _I'm in here you metal-head. This _is _my ship, you know.") She spoke, placing her hands on her hips and glowering down on Grinder, who was on the ground cowering in fear of the female, as she gave off a rather dominating look over the bigger Yautja.

("Right, right. Sorry. Just didn't think you heard us.") He said, trying to get up without the white Yautja kicking him over the ass.

("_Sure _you didn't.") She rolled her blue eyes.

("Gkaun-yte, long time no see, mei-jadhi.") Heather heard Razor pipe from behind her, immediately causing her to blush, not realizing he was that close without her knowing it.

("Mei-hswei!") Adamantine trilled excitedly, running up to Razor and embracing him. ("I've missed you big brother, we all have.") She said, running her fingers through his rubbery hair.

("Likewise.")

Heather stared in disbelief. Razor came a little bit below the female Yautja's _shoulders_, and she was calling him 'big brother'? "..._B-big_ brother?" She stammered out.

Adamantine cackled. ("Female Yautja are always taller than the males.") She said smugly.

("Don't get _too _cocky.") Razor grumbled.

("Hey! What about us?") Neon waved at them and Adamantine let out another laugh, as she approached them.

("Of course, I couldn't forget you two.") She said as she gave them a quick hug.

("And _me_?") Grinder coughed to try and grab her attention.

("Ah, yes.") She turned around to face him, giving him the sweetest expression she could without twisting it with irritation. She was failing badly. ("I don't think _you're _hard to forget.") She said. He grumbled back as she laughed again and slapped him on the shoulder.

Feeling left out, Heather shifted again in her place, but was enjoying the warm reuinion. She wished that she could have one all the same with her family but, well, that was a little impossible.

Almost as if they felt her thoughts, Razor was the first to turn and look at the human, and he nodded at her as if he was trying to say something. A thank you, maybe?

("Sister...") He whispered to the white Yautja as he held out a hand towards Heather's direction, which Adamantine quickly noticed.

("Oh, my.") She began, walking up to the girl. Once she approached her, she bowed as low as she could in front of Heather, and uncertain of what to do, she bowed back, but rose up to find Adamantine still bowed. ("You have my utmost gratitude, Kitten. I cannot thank you enough for what you have done.") She said softly.

She smiled. "Like I said, it's no problem. I was glad to have helped, it felt right." She said, nodding.

Adamantine rose back up. ("Yes, it _is _a problem.") She said, as Heather looked at her nervously. ("You are no doubt considered a dangerous criminal, now, that you've helped four male Yautjas escape from a high levelled security area.") Heather's face paled again.

She looked over at the four males, who all immediately took the 'guilty' expressions. ("C'jit...")

"_**You **_four!" She pointed at them as they jumped backwards, startled. "The _hell _did you tell her?! I've already helped you escape, I don't want people worrying about _me _now!" She demanded.

("We couldn't _help _it!") Bleeder defended.

("She would have skinned _us _if we didn't tell her what happened.") Grinder said, waving an arm.

("And I _would _have done it, too.") Adamantine stated coldly. They backed up further. ("But seriously, if there's any way we could help, then please let us know. We're forever in your debt, Kitten.") She pleaded. Heather's heart melted again.

"I-I don't want to trouble you. Really, just knowing you all are okay is good enough for me." She replied carefully.

("Give the female some weapons.")

They all flipped around quickly to see another figure exiting the cloaked ship. This one looked to be about in between Grinder and Adamantine's height, and as Heather could see, this was another male. His apparel looked more tribal, more around the rest of the clan's kind that Heather had seen. He had a slightly thinner build, but had fair muscles that would intimidate anyone. His skin was also a slight pale color, but it was a light greenish color, brown and black blurring around the edges of his skin, with a few spots here and there.

The cloth that was wrapped around his waist was brown, and had a deep gray plate over the front, discs were dangling from his belt as well as a very threatening whip on the right. He had armor on his shoulders, thighs, and the usual wrist computers that they all held, and his mask was slightly different from the others'; she could see spikes lining the ridges around the back of the front, and she could tell it had taken quite a beating, since she spotted a few claw marks on it.

One thing that caused her to shrink, was that his weapons looked far more threatening than the others'. _He was sporting __**two **__of those plasmacasters, what the hell?_

As soon as he came off the ship, he turned to them fully so she got a better view of him. Heather's eyes furrowed...he looked familiar to her.

("Father!") That was Razor.

("It's good to see you again after so long, my son.") The other said warmly.

Heather cocked her head slightly. This one sounded like a wise old man speaking, instead of the gruff and hyperactive voices the younger ones had. "So that's...?" She began. He _did _look familiar.

Wolf.

("Holy pauk, what mess has _he _been in since we last saw him?") Grinder blurted, eyeing the claw marks plastered on Wolf's mask.

("It is a long story.") Wolf spoke up, answering Grinder's question.

("Father?") He looked down to his son to see him looking at him questioningly, wondering about his previous statement.

Wolf looked up and saw Adamantine standing next to Heather, who was looking as nervous as ever, but managed to not lose herself too quickly. He took his hand and rested it on Razor's shoulder and patted it before walking past him and towards the young girl, her anxiousness rising with each footstep he took.

"_Get a grip you block-head. You've been stuck with four boisterous male Yautjas and here you're tensing up over just one more? Well...the whip does look a little...__**intimidating**__...wait...I recognize that whip..."_ Heather thought. Something about that whip seemed familiar to her, though...almost like she'd seen it before.

As soon as he began to come into view, Heather could see him more clearly. This time, with each finishing step he took, she felt excitement rise up in her, her eyes growing wider by the second. Getting closer, she could see the details better: his skin, his outfit, and more importantly, that _mask_. She _had _seen him before, when she was just a kid. That _whip_, he was never without his whip. The clothing, back when she was little, he had on less armor, but this time there were a few more additions on said thighs and cloth around his waist. But the thing that struck her most was that mask; she could see a prayer engraved on the top of it. Actually, she never knew if it was a prayer or not, but she considered him a blessing back then in a terrible situation with her parents, and she always thought of him as that.

He'd saved her life once. How the hell could she have forgotten _that_?

She thought for a minute...either she had her brain wiped after the incident or she'd just forgotten. She thought harder, staring into the symbols on his mask. There was someone else with him, too. The girl was pale, short black hair with beads spread through it just like theirs, green eyes, and she wore the same type of Yautja armor that he had worn. She forgot her name, but she was there alright. She also remembered the older girl calling him something besides his own name, but she couldn't remember that either.

A pure coincidence, this was. Though...she thought of it as another word. One she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

("I see you've gone off into your own world again.") She heard Grinder smirk.

Heather shook her head and looked up at Wolf, who was now directly in front of her, his head tilted to the side and his arms dangling. _Yep. This was her Wolf alright. That was his usual gesture._

("So, you're the one who rescued my son?") He asked curiously. It was more like a statement, to Heather's ears.

She nodded, but didn't answer verbally.

She then saw him jerk his head a bit, almost as if he came to realization with something, and he changed his position that showed he was slightly alarmed. He was staring directly at Heather, however. ("Don't I know you?") He asked. Another statement.

"Wolf? Is that really you?" She asked, her eyes were closed, now. Tears began to well up in her eyes, hoping that she wasn't dreaming, and if she _was_, she prayed it wouldn't turn into a nightmare.

She heard him chuckle. She refused to open her eyes just yet. What she couldn't see, though, was Wolf taking his hand and raising it to the tubes that connected to his mask, carefully yanking them from their sockets as a hissing sound spurted from them. He then placed his hands on each side of the mask and pulled forward, another hiss with a few beeping sounds came out, and he lowered it to reveal his face.

("Open your eyes, child, and then you'll remember.") He said, and that surprised her quickly.

His words caused her eyes to snap open, and she looked up at him to see the same face she saw all those years ago, except there was something new...half of the left side of his face seemed burned off, and it looked absolutely terrible. She gasped and held a hand to her mouth, shocked by the new mark.

"W-Wolf?" She tried to speak.

("Ah, so you remember.") He said, chuckling again. ("You've grown a lot since I last saw you, little one.") He said, looking at her with as much sincerity that he had.

"Oh, jeez..." She sobbed, lunging forward and latching her arms around his waist.

This time, he let out a full laugh and returned the gesture, rubbing the back of her head comfortingly. ("What a peculiar turn of events that brought you back here, little R'ka.")

R'ka. _That_, she remembered almost. She'd thought her father gave her that nickname, since he was always one to come up with odd little names for her, being the oddball that he was. But she'd forgotten about Wolf and the human girl around age nine, so she didn't think much of it. What did it mean, again? She pressed further into her memories, trying as hard as ever to push through the fog. Did it have something to do with elements? She knew that much, but which element was it? Fire, probably, since she was a hyperactive little twerp when she was little, and she loved playing with fire when her mother scolded her not to do so.

She started remembering it all. "How did--_when _did you--" She began, but simply couldn't find the words.

("A lot has happened since I last saw you, _believe _me.") He said.

Adamantine stared at the scene, and was quite confused, but she found it sweet, nonetheless. The four males, however, were quite taken aback, and like Adamantine, they were confused as hell. Grinder scratched his head, wondering what the _pauk _was going on, Bleeder curious as to why they were hugging, Neon questioning why Heather had acted like she'd known him forever, and Razor...who was slightly surprised...but not as much as the others.

Was this the girl that his father had told him and Adamantine about when he was out hunting on Earth? Razor was a youngling while Adamantine was only a pup, but he had mentioned once about him finding a young human child in the hands of that human warrior named Cassie, and he promptly took the girl into his own hands; the girl had been struck on her back, and she was bleeding to death. He'd saved the girl's life, but he said he'd had to leave her behind and return her to her own family.

He'd also mentioned that she didn't seem to be afraid of his face at all.

("Would anyone like to explain to me what the hell's going on, here?") Grinder muttered to them, knocking Razor from his thoughts.

("Wolf never mentioned being associated with an ooman before...let alone a female.") Bleeder replied. Razor shot him a look. ("Oh...well...except for--")

("He knew her when she was a child.") Razor quickly spoke, cutting Bleeder off.

("Oh.") Grinder chirped in realization. ("That explains the close proximity.") He said. Razor punched his arm.

"What happened to your face?" They began listening in again, hearing Heather speak up after catching her breath. She slammed a fist into her open hand and looked at him. "I swear I'll hunt down and kill whoever did that to you!" She snapped. The four jumped.

("No, no,") Wolf waved a hand. ("I was caught in battle with a few kainde amedhas, or as you oomans call them, Xenomorphs, and I got caught underneath an injured one, so the blood burned my face.") He said.

Heather's arms dropped, looking at him obliviously. "Xenomorphs?"

He laughed. ("I see you don't remember _them _quite yet.")

"And I've noticed you've been busy _otherwise_." She said, giving him that same annoying gesture of hers as she eyed Razor and turned back to Adamantine.

He then barked in laughter, harder than he did the few previous times. ("Yes. We're still searching for their mother, however...") He said, the last few words dying down to a nervous and worried tone.

"I heard." Heather replied, sadly. "If there's anything I can do to help, _please _let me know." She pleaded. Though, she paused when she realized what she said, Adamantine was grinning at her from behind.

Wolf snorted. ("Flip the words around and it just might work.")

Heather blushed and placed her hands behind her back, trailing her foot in circles shyly. "I'd just be a bother."

("You weren't a bother back then, and you won't be, now.") He said as he leaned in and formed his mandibles into a grin. ("I know you too well, R'ka. You need _something_, I can tell by just looking at your expression.")

She smiled, but bit her lip. _"I need a goddamn place to run off to so my ass won't get shot."_ She thought bluntly. "Maybe I do..." She began, a spark of hope lighting up in each one of their eyes. "...but I can't think of a single thing right now." Then they rolled their eyes.

Knowing that the argument couldn't go on forever, Wolf nodded and placed a hand on his hip, looking down at the tense human. ("Alright.") He finally said. Heather squealed excitedly in her mind, thankful that they wouldn't try to burden themselves with her. ("But know this: you rescued my son and his comrades, if not for you, he would most possibly be dead by now.") He said. Heather already knew that. She was becoming overwhelmed with a soft feeling that these giant creatures could be so sincere and kind. ("If you _ever _need anything, no matter how stupid or urgent it may be, you may let us know and we will try to help you as best as we can. And I _**mean **_it.") He said, looking at her seriously with his last few words.

Heather nodded. "I may not have been happy to help at the time, but I just couldn't stand realizing that they were actually torturing your kind in there. It's inhuman to do such a thing." She said as they nodded, agreeing.

("Well, I suppose we should be getting ready to depart.") Adamantine spoke up. She walked up to Heather and placed her hands on her shoulders, looking at her warmly. ("As my father said, if you need anything, let us know. And thank you, again.") She said before bowing to her, which Heather replied to with the same gesture.

After that, the female Yautja waved to her and walked back to the ramp, growling at Grinder as she passed him, as he cowered over her. ("Say your goodbyes. Once we leave here we will continue our search for Kelly.") Wolf spoke up, regaining their attention.

Heather raised an eyebrow. Kelly? That was an odd name for one of their kind.

As Wolf turned back to Heather, he retrieved his mask and placed it back on his face, hooking the tubes back into their appropriate places, and looked down at her one final time. ("It was good to see you again after all these years.") He said.

She smiled. "Likewise. I have to admit...I slightly forgot everything...but then you..." She bit her lip while receiving a comforting pat on the cheek.

("You were young. I'm not surprised that you forgot.") He said. ("And take this. Use it to contact us if you need to.") He said, handing her a small device that looked like a metal wristband. She took it and thanked him, pressing it onto her wrist and looked back up. ("We will meet again, young one.")

She locked her arms around his waist once more and hugged him tightly, to which he responded in the same once again, and pulled away to step back. "I hope so." She said. "Take care, and I hope you find her..." She said. "Let me know if I can help you on your search."

He nodded. ("We will. Farewell, R'ka.") He saluted her.

Another gesture she loved when she was little. No one ever knew why she liked it, but she used it all the time.

She smiled widely and saluted back. "Goodbye."

He left and followed his daughter into the ship, which left her with the four brutes she'd given up everything for. She sighed and walked over to them, and they all gave her approving pats on the back and shoulder.

("We owe you one, kid.") Grinder said.

("Better make it four.") Neon said. ("She saved_ all four _of our asses.") Grinder shrugged.

"You're welcome." She laughed. "Just one thing..." She said, and they listened eagerly. "...try not to get your _stupid asses _caught again, or next time it won't be _me _experimenting on you and you'll be screwed, understand?" She said and they chuckled, understanding completely.

The last thing they wanted was to get caught in that place again. She was nice enough to even speak a single word to them. Everyone else cursed and taunted them, let alone asked questions that they wouldn't dare answer.

"Oh...and thank you for taking care of my arm." She laughed nervously.

("You would've died if we didn't. But you're welcome anyway.") Grinder said.

"You guys take care, you hear? And let me know when you find your mother. I'd like to know if you're doing alright." Heather looked over to Razor this time, who, surprisingly, didn't have his gaze averted from hers.

("We will. You let us know if you get your _own _rear in trouble.") Grinder snorted.

("GRINDER! NEON!") They all jumped at the shout, turning to see Adamantine glaring at them. ("Get your big asses in here! We're heading back to the mother ship!")

("Gotta go. See ya!") Grinder and Neon said and waved at her, scampering over to the ramp and avoiding the raging female as they entered the ship.

("I think I'll follow suit so she doesn't crush me like a bug.") Bleeder laughed nervously and waved to Heather before running off to follow the two.

Which left her alone with Razor. Which, as _he _had stated earlier, made her insides churn. Not out of disgust, no. This time she was nervous. She hadn't wondered how she'd act if they tried interacting with each other directly again. Growing uncomfortable of the usual silence, she was the first to speak.

"Who in the world would've thought that Wolf would be your father." She stated.

("He's mentioned you before.") He replied. Heather looked at him. ("When I was a youngling, he mentioned that he'd rescued a young ooman child from death, but left her in the care of her parents in the end.")

Heather's eyes softened and she hugged herself. "Ironic, huh?" She said, but didn't see him nod. "Look...I'm sorry about earlier...I was just concerned." She said carefully and quietly.

("I already told you not to be sorry. I shouldn't have exploded like that. I'm just not used to speaking so openly about events such as those. They were painful memories.") He said.

"It's alright, I understand." She said, looking up at him this time.

("...I should go before Adamantine tramples me, too.") He said rather calmly.

Heather nodded. "You take care of yourself."

("You too.")

Silence stretched again, and Heather broke it by holding out her arms and looking at him shyly. "A goodbye hug?" She said.

He stared at her for a minute, but laughed and shook his head, accepting her offer. ("You're still an--")

"--An idiot, I know. I've known that for _years_, now." She smirked.

Again, Heather felt that irritating silence stretch on as she stood there cradling his waist in her arms, while he patted her back as the others did. She really wished they wouldn't leave...but that wasn't an option, to her.

("Thank you, again.") He said, she was thankful that he broke the silence.

"Yes. You're all welcome." She snorted. "I wish we had time to set the others free..." She said sadly, thinking of all the other Yautjas that they'd left behind in that horrid building.

("You were curious about my mother...") He said, and she became curious about his comment. ("...she was ooman.")

Heather's eyes snapped open and she pulled away to look at him, trying her best to see his eyes through that mask of his. Before she realized it, the two of them had stopped embracing and he saluted her as his father did a few moments ago.

("Goodbye.") And he walked off.

"Goodbye." She murmured.

The ship was still cloaked, but she managed to see the door slide up and lock, while she heard the engines start up, as she backed up and gave them room for liftoff. The rocketing sound of the engines bursting out was heard, while she saw the ship reposition itself, and with that, they blasted off. Heather was left alone on the building, watching them vanish into the sky until she couldn't see them any further.

Wondering what she should do now, she heaved a sigh and began walking over to the ship she'd been left with, stopping midway to look down at the streets below her. Thankfully, the Serviteurs and Dead Men had been taken down by the Riot Squad a few hours ago, and the streets were returning to normal. She looked up at the sky and saw that in another hour or two, it would be dark, and she decided that she would most likely not want to be out in the open while it was dark.

Neonopolis was just as dangerous at night as it was during the day. Heather just had to find a safe place to stay to prevent herself from getting killed. She also wondered how long it would be before she'd get caught. No...she paused. Wolf had given her a smaller wrist computer that could give her access to help at any time; they said they'd help her at any moment, right? She kept that in mind. She would need all the help she could get if she were to get in trouble.

She had to think of a plan _now_, or she'll be screwed. Heaving another sigh, she left the rooftop and entered the ship, to think of a place to go. She knew of one place, but she still remembered to keep herself ready.

And with that, Heather flew off.

* * *

A/N: geez. the last bit was hard to do, for some reason lol. anyhow, what's gonna happen to Heather? o.o and before you all throw stones at me, this is NOT how it's going to end, okays? keep your fingers crossed XD most of you are probably weirded out at the new pairing mentioned in this chapter. while watching AVPR, i thought 'meh. Kelly's husband sucked anyway.' and my mind turned into a whirlwind. that's me for you, really weird pairings. (t'was funny 'cause Wolf and Kelly didn't even interact with each other) anyhow, i'm off to work on a few of my other fanfictions, since they need some severe updating. 'till next time!

translations:

**pauk**: expletive; fuck.

**R'ka**: fire element

**Gkaun-yte**: greeting; hello

**mei-jadhi**: sister

**Mei-hswei**: brother


	8. Damn

A/N: whew! finally got a damn update! this one's kinda short but i hope it makes up for what i haven't written. enjoy it while i'm gone! :D see you guys on Thursday, hopefully!

disclaimer: i own none of the Predators or Aliens, except the ones unfamiliar to the stories, games, books, whatever, all belong to me.

excuse any typos D:

* * *

**Message Eight: Damn...**

It had struck midnight, and Heather eventually had to abandon her ship, knowing that there were no magical sky lands for her to escape to. She continued on foot, her cat companion on her heels the entire way, as she trudged through the streets of Neonopolis. There had been a few times when one of the pimps on the streets that she _knew _worked for a group called the Los Matadores, would whistle and hoot at her (even in her punkish getup). She never liked the men that wandered the streets, and hated even more of the women as she passed them. She occasionally flipped them off, sneered, and sent a few obscene words to keep them away from her.

She wasn't defenseless, however. Her backpack was crammed full of shit that she had deemed to be useful. Like a fairly sharp pocket knife and the pistol that she would keep underneath her pillow. She sighed heavily. Oh, how she missed her bed. She kicked a nearby rock in frustration, knowing all too well that she couldn't go back.

By now the security inside Borgia Industries had rummaged through her files and found that she was most definitely underage, lying to them just so she could get a job. Too tired to care, she shrugged off the thought. Oh well. Who gives a shit. It's too late now and she never really liked the people there anyway. She could find a better job working inside a strip club than to be around festering corpses and medical tools. She shudderd at that thought though. The only thing she'd be good at inside a strip club is sticking her six-inch heels deep into a very unwelcome spot to the males that went to those filthy places.

She never had much toleration for men. Except for Jason, and possibly Jake. But they were back at Borgia Industries, either defending her case or selling her out. And possibly her father, if she had any memory of him. No, she scratched that thought out quickly. She never had any toleration for _him_. But she reassured herself; there was Jason, Jake...and Razor...and Grinder...and Neon...and Bleeder...and Wolf.

Agitated at her thoughts she rammed against a poor wooden fence to knock herself from her self-inflicted mind-games, gaining a few odd glances from pedestrians. She let out a frustrated growl and stomped on, Luna looking up at her curiously. She waved a hand at the cat and shook her head.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She muttered. Luna cocked her head. The human female knew that the cat was probably thinking something along the lines of 'What the _feck _is wrong with you?', to which she rolled her eyes at.

She began to grow sleepy, and getting fairly tired of the thick, bright neon lights decorating the buildings from every height and angle. She was getting claustrophobic, being around all these people even when they sent looks her way, she felt like they would eventually crush her and squeeze the life out of her eventually. She was getting paranoid, thinking that either her Yautja comrades would come rattling after her and give her a good lecture, or the police would find her and undoubtedly arrest her for her treason.

She was getting worse and worse. She had to stop _now _or she'd collapse from exhaustion. It was _hot_, it was _humid_, _sweat _had formed around her neck and brow and the back of her shirt was drenched in it, and being exposed to heat this long would cause Heather to be thrown into uncontrollable anger and agitation. She hadn't once tried to explain or understand it, and despite how she used to love summer, she absolutely _hated _being out in the heat like this with no food or water.

Oh, great. She made a gesture similar to the description of a 'face-palm'. She forgot to pack _water_.

_Smart move, dumbass._

She let out groan and struggled along, trying her hardest not to collapse. Catching eye of two terribly dressed males known as pimps, she straightened up and made it appear that nothing was wrong. Being out on the streets of Neonopolis by yourself at _night _meant trouble, and there were plenty of people _looking _for it. She kept a normal pace and avoided eye contact, remembering to brandish her knife out of her boots if they tried anything.

Much to her disappointment, one of them shot a grin her way, obviously taking in her curves around the tight plaid tripp pants she wore, and she scowled at him. Luckily she passed them with no problems, causing her to sigh in relief and then lean against the poor fence once more for support as her feline friend came around and brushed against her leg in comfort.

She had long gotten rid of her lab coat, tearing off the name tag and tossing both into the ocean near the outskirts of the city. It was like a revelation for her, she supposed. She'd never see it again, and probably none of her friends again, whether or not she got caught. One thing that she hated about the whole 'getting caught' thing was that the streets were also swarming with the Serviteurs, some of the goons patrolled around their makeshift church and around the bank. She didn't care too much for voodoo, and most certainly didn't want to be made into one of their little _barbie dolls _to stick pins and needles in to.

And just the perfect timing, she found herself wandering towards the church. Grimacing silently, she bolted to the other side of the street, minding the cars that passed by, avoiding the building as if it were the plague itself. Loud dance music was thumping so loudly that she swore there might have been a dozen rock concerts in event right now. The air grew slightly thinner around the church, from the alcohol and smoke that surrounded it. She had to distance herself from it _now _or she would undoubtedly hurl.

Quickening her pace and making sure that her cat was following her, she found herself once again in the same spot she had previously been. She snuck past guards and Serviteurs as she ascended the parking lot all the way to the top so she could get a good view of the blackened skies and sea. The air was _much _clearer up here rather than down below. She inhaled and smiled, finally relieved that she could breathe _air _instead of _smoke_.

She relaxed for a moment, leaning against the metal railing as she stared into space. Luna curled against her ankle, purring at the content amongst themselves.

Abruptly, out of nowhere, she only got the slight sound of footsteps for about two seconds before--

"Hey, kid--"

"I DIDN'T DO IT!!"

She squealed and raised her arms into the air, bowing her head flamboyantly, absolutely terrified that she might've been caught. There was silence, until she turned around and found one of the Matadores' thugs looking at her oddly, though his gun was lowered and not threatening her.

Her eyebrows raised and she lowered her arms, looking sheepish. "S-sorry...I thought you were someone else." She said, nervously.

"No doubt." The man replied, his spanish accent running thick.

For a moment, the man stared at her as if he was examining her, his eyes scanning everywhere. Then, his eyebrows raised slightly as if in realization, then furrowing. This made her queasy, she was beginning to grow uncomfortable at this. She didn't like the look he was giving her.

"Hey," He spoke, almost hesitantly. "aren't you..."

Heather's eyebrows raised at his short inquiry, and her eyes caught a small wanted sign appearing on one of the public televisions, her profile picture from Borgia Industries glowing with a description underneath it, as well as the reward. Her heart began to race, and her body temperature grew hotter, hotter, hot to the point to where she thought she would melt. They had _wanted _posters for her plastered everywhere already!

Ooh how she wanted to kick someone in the face right about now. She was feeling both terrible fright and immense anger. How could they still be looking for just four Yautjas still? They escaped the planet, and she was more than certain that there was at least one or more of their bretheren still in the city lurking about and hunting her kind. They always were, in heat like this.

Why couldn't they go off and find _another _little toy to play with?

"You're that scientist!" He bellowed, gaining unwanted attention towards himself and the girl.

"SHIT!" She spluttered, her cat hissed in chain reaction, and the girl resorted to the last thing she knew to do.

She thrust her leg forward and hit home. The man keeled over and dropped his gun, and knowing that she needed at least _some _protection, Heather bent down and snatched up his weapon before bolting from the scene she'd just made as Luna glanced back and forth for a moment, but did not waste time to follow her master. There were a couple of people that looked as if they were going to reveal her position, but she threatened to shoot them if they even uttered the first word.

Heather hadn't been used to defending _herself_, but she imagined this was to be a good exercise and learn to stand up for herself once more. She glanced down at the mechanical bracelet that Wolf had given her, and squeezed her eyes shut as she ran, also trying to focus on the walls to prevent herself from smashing into one.

"_Don't call them." _She thought._ "You can handle this yourself, they only said to use it for emergencies, right? Yeah. This ain't an emergency yet. If you get caught, __**that's **__when you call them. Yeah."_ She was more or less trying to reassure herself rather than to avoid the outcome of her actions.

* * *

("You certainly seem queasy.")

("I'm not.")

("_Are _you, now? You're fidgeting your fingers.")

("No I'm not...")

("Yes, you are. Your teeth are clenched as well.")

("Will you stop pestering me?! I'm trying to concentrate!")

("Oh, it's '_concentrating' _now! ...Would you at least stop fidgeting your fingers?")

("Adamantine!! I'm not fidgeting!")

The six Yautja had safely managed to reach the mothership, greet their Elder, and relax. Relaxing was something that they greatly missed, what with being stuck inside a prison for months. Grinder seemed to be the most flamboyant one relaxing among the group; he was sprawled across a couch with his mask off, hands behind his head, and lying back, taking up the entire furniture space.

Bleeder was busy chowing down on food that would be foreign to Heather; he was practically starving since they left the planet. If the animal that Heather deemed as her pet wasn't her companion, then Bleeder would have eaten it on the spot. He visibly winced at the idea, though. Doing such a thing would result in Heather tossing his reptilian backside over a chasm and then firing lasers down on him to make _sure _he died. Not that the fall wouldn't kill him anyhow.

Neon was relishing the taste of one of their alcoholic beverages known as C'ntlip. He was a drinker, no doubt of _that_. Adamantine had swatted his hand a few times to make sure that he wouldn't drink every last bit of their C'ntlip. He wasn't drinking it for depression, no. He was quite happy, now that they were free from their dungeon. He just missed the taste of it is all. Grinder and Razor had their fair share of the drink, all cheering about their reunion back on the mothership.

Razor was the last one that seemed more pessimistic rather than excited to be home. He was currently fidgeting his fingers like mad, while Adamantine tried her best to calm him down. If he stopped his fidgeting then he would rub his brows harshly as if there was an itch forming around them. If he wasn't pressing his brows then he would rub his chin in a thoughtful manner. And if he wasn't doing _that _then he would be pacing uncontrollably. Adamantine assumed that it was stress and possible nostalgia, but none, not even himself could understand why he was acting so oddly. Maybe it _was _nostalgia? He didn't know. All he knew was that _something _was making him nervous, almost like he could sense it.

Wolf had mentioned a theory before he departed to speak with the Elder privately; it was possible that Razor was nervous because they had pretty much just left Heather behind in the heat and dust, and here the authorities were still searching for her and possibly themselves. It was that _and _because they had yet to find his and Adamantine's mother, one that took the name of Kelly.

There were tons of questions rising in his head: if they went back to search for Kelly, would she still be there? Would she even still be alive? What about Borgia Industries? They were currently hunting his kind and Heather back in Neonopolis, so what trouble might they cause if they went back? What about Heather, even? Was she alright? She may have been strong but she was a damn clumsy one at that. The stupid girl was _lying_, even he could tell that. She was selfless, indeed. But that was no reason for her to risk her life for it.

...Was it?

Hell, he didn't know. He was thinking so hard that he started getting a headache.

("Razor,") Adamantine soon spoke up from behind a curved booth, her elbows on top of the table and her fingers laced with one another, placed in front of her mouth in a thoughtful manner. She was _glaring _at him, though. ("sit your paranoid ass down before I _bolt _you to the _floor_.")

("Oh c'jit,") Grinder coughed. ("better take her advice, big guy. I don't think you want to be strapped down again.")

Razor let out a frustrated hiss and growl, placing both hands on his head and bending over as if he was in utter pain. He wasn't hurting, except for the headache he had, he was just absolutely _aggravated_. He _hated _it when he thought too much. It distracted him, made him weak, _vulnerable_.

Unaware of what was going on behind him, Neon made eyes towards the bottle C'ntlip next to him, to which Adamantine shot him a glance that literally meant 'If you touch that, I will dismember you on the spot'. He raised his hands in defeat, and leaned onto the table again.

("I think he may need more than just a _tiny _sip.") Neon soon whispered to the female.

("Do you honestly think _that _will calm him down?") She counteracted.

("Hell, the guy needs _something_. He acts like he's been shot full of kainde amedha blood.") Bleeder joined the conversation, making sure to _swallow _his food before he spoke.

Neon blinked. ("He would be dead if--")

("I know, I _know_, I was being _ironic_.") Bleeder retorted irritatedly. Neon shrugged.

("Don't the rest of you find it odd that Kitten just shrugged off our help?") Razor soon questioned them, able to regain himself quickly.

The other four exchanged glances, wondering what he was getting at. Adamantine had managed to see the girl's uneasiness before, and knew that no one acted in such a way unless they were hiding something.

Grinder looked at him. ("What do you mean? The kid said she had a place to stay. So what's eating you?") He asked.

("What's _eating _me--") Razor said, turning and grabbing a pillow off the couch and swatting the bigger Yautja upside the head with it in his fit of irritation, emitting a startled bark from him. ("--is that the girl was _lying _to us!")

Adamantine had expected something like this, but she never knew that it could make her heartbeat speed up. The human _had _saved her brother, which made her think of Heather as a close friend and comrade. The human's safety was what concerned her the most, and hearing Razor shout it out made a pang of realization form into her head.

("What the p--") Grinder was about to curse until he saw the siblings' expressions. ("...So you're saying that she might be in more trouble down on that planet?") He asked.

("It's a possibility.") The female Yautja sighed. ("Now I feel terrible for leaving her behind. We should have done _something _instead of just naively taking her word!") She then stood, immediately causing Bleeder and Neon to reel back as if she was going to attack them.

Razor, who was still in his hissy fit, let out another frustrated growl and slapped a hand over his eyes. He wasn't annoyed with his sister, he was annoyed with _everything else_. His comrades taking so long to figure out such a simple thing, himself for letting her go without thinking twice, and his _headache_..._**oh**_, his headache. That's what was making him angrier by the minute. He felt like flipping a table over just to ease the pain. He glanced up and found that all of the C'ntlip was gone, and he rolled his eyes and let out a groan.

("Well you're correct on _that _theory.") Everyone turned to find Wolf appearing in the room, his expression grim.

("What?") Grinder asked, managing to look up even from his reclined position on the couch.

("We just received a video from one of our hunters still in Neonopolis. You remember Scarface?") He began, placing a hand on his hip and gesturing about. The seven nodded, a few 'Yeah's and 'Yes's emitting them. ("Heather is being hunted; there are Riot Squads swarming the streets looking for her and he managed to follow her all the way to the downtown section of the city. She's being backed against a wall.") He shook his head.

("C'jit!") Razor barked, growing angry already and granting his wishes. He stomped towards the couch and grabbed the back ends of it, lifted it up, and flipped it over without hassle. It slightly helped the raging Yautja with his temper, but did not bode well for the much larger male that was now pinned beneath it, who was spluttering curses as loud as he could.

A series of giggles emitted from Adamantine at this. ("Razor--!!") A muffled growl came from Grinder.

("What do we do then? We cannot just sit here and let her get killed!") Razor barked.

Then, the others stood. ("We have to go after her whether she requests for our help or not.") Neon said.

("I'm gonna--your--_so _pauk-de hard!") Another muffled shout from Grinder.

Wolf nodded, somehow able to ignore the suffocating Yautja. ("I understand, and I agree. We were heading back to Earth anyway to search for Kelly, so we might as well help her out as well. I do not want her to get herself killed.") He said.

Razor raised a brow. ("You say it like she's not worth the trouble.")

("Paya help me, I _will _beat your _hard-ass head _with this couch!") Grinder again.

Wolf's brows furrowed. ("I am not saying that.") He said, waving a hand. ("I want to help Kitten out as well but we must not forget that your mother is another priority as well. We cannot abandon her completely.")

Finally, Grinder managed to toss the couch off of himself, barking and snarling coming from him as he got to his feet. For a moment, he seemed as if he was going to grab Razor and sling him across the room, but he managed to contain himself around Wolf. ("You,") He gestured towards the pale Yautja. ("are going to get one _hell _of a thrashing when we are finished with this search.")

Adamantine smirked again.

("I still do not understand why she has not contacted us for assistance.") Wolf shook his head.

("Great,") Razor began, throwing his arms into the air, his irritation abruptly reforming itself. ("you all just now got your damn brains working and that damn girl is probably getting her damn ass fried by now and Neon just drank all the damn C'ntlip and now you're questioning why she hasn't damn well contacted us for help because of her _damn _selflessness.") He managed to finish in one breath.

The rest stared at him.

Adamantine raised a finger as if she was going to speak, until Razor began to stomp off, pausing at the door. ("Well whether that Ooman wants our help or not, we're _damn _well going down there to rescue her _damn _pathetic ass..._and maybe get rid of this __**damn **__headache while I'm at it_.") His last few words were whispered out, and he was gone.

Adamantine shrugged and slowly followed as the rest of them went after the female. Whether Razor went off to grab more C'ntlip to ease his anger or fly back down to Earth by himself was a mystery to them.

Probably going to get some _damn _weapons to save his _damn _Ooman.

* * *

A/N: well...i hope this made up for what you've missed! if not...then...er...well...too bad 8D;; until next time!

translations:

**C'jit:** generic curse word, meaning "damn/shit"


	9. Found

A/N: yow, it's been a while hasn't it? i think it's about time i flicking updated this fic, don'cha think? i apologize for the delay, truly. life has been so busyyy even though it's summer. i have a summer job right now to help out a couple of relatives of mine so i've been occupied with that : i reeeally hope i can get the next chapter done sooner, though!

oh, and a cookie to anyone who can find the song title i've hidden in this chapter 8D

ignore any typos plz :D;

disclaimer: i don't own Aliens or Predators, most of the characters unfamiliar to the movies/games/novels belong to me.

* * *

**Message Nine: Found**

"Shit, shit, shit..."

Heather soon abandoned her optimism and was resorted to more worry and paranoia, rather than expecting a worse outcome for her persuaders. She certainly wished she had her optimism back; it made it easier for her to run. Now she was running so fast that she thought she would trip sooner or later, and she had already done so a couple of times. No matter where she ran, she couldn't seem to find anywhere where she could hide properly. The Matadores were everywhere, and she knew the Serviteurs were hiding in the shadows around every corner, and she was surprised that none of them had caught her just yet. Luna was on her heels the entire time, not wanting to fall behind on her owner. Heather hadn't stopped once since the Matadores guard had recognized her, and she didn't yet want to risk getting caught now. She'd come too far. She'd gotten the Yautjas off the planet safely. She had been free for only a few or more hours, and--

So why did it matter then? Why was she running? She'd served her purpose, got the Yautjas free from their dungeon, and helped them escape. What would she do now that she was a criminal to these people? What _else _was there to live for? She was already well aware of the quote 'You can't run forever' and she knew it was true. She looked over her shoulder as she ran, hearing a cry of distress, as she spotted a horde of Matadores thugs charging towards her and pushing anyone and any_thing_ out of their way.

"_Damn_, she's got a reward on _her_!" One of them hooted.

She flipped her head around. The way he said it wasn't just perverted; she could tell he...or _they_...wanted shares of the 'reward' that she had noticed that was up for grabs if anyone caught her. She was getting tired, and dehydrated. Her little feline companion even seemed to grow weary of doing so much running. She spluttered curses one after the other. They couldn't keep this up for much longer. Due to her panting and rapid inhaling, she'd caught some of the cold night wind in her throat and it was making her cough, inevitably causing her chest to hurt.

Ignoring the pain beneath her sternum, she looked up to find herself coming up on a walkway and a corner that lead into an alley. She knew which pinpoint this was; it was where a man named El Hongo spent most of his time at, at the very top where the indoor pool was at, among a few hookers and working girls. Heather had never met Hongo, but she didn't give a rat's ass right now. As soon as she caught the image of the pool room on the top floor, she wondered if that would help her...

The roofs! If she could climb up onto a roof then they wouldn't be able to get her. Damn it all. Why did she abandon her stolen dropship? She was an excellent climber but it would be so much easier with the cargo ship. Oh well.

"_Don't call them! This isn't an emergency! Argh!"_

Her eyes darted around, looking for a way up, hoping that these men couldn't climb as well as they could run, hoping that they couldn't--

"Oh FU--"

In a split second, Heather felt a hand grip onto the side of her shirt and literally yanked her off to the side into the alley, ending in a harsh tumble to the ground and a scratch on the shoulder. Completely startled at this, she flailed and kicked, thinking that one of the Matadores thugs had grabbed her, though she wasn't screaming during her spazm, refusing to draw any more attention to herself than needed.

"Get up! Get up!" Her captive's voice spat in a whisper. A female voice, to be exact.

"Shit! Let me go!" Heather squeaked in a whisper, scrambling to her feet as the unidentified female gripped under her arms and hoisted her to her feet. "I _**said**_, let me--"

"Be quiet!" The woman slapped a hand over the girl's mouth and whirled her around to see from out of the alley.

Watching, Heather saw the thugs scatter as if they'd lost her, a few cursing, a few barking orders at another. Within a few seconds, they were off somewhere else searching for the young ex-scientist, leaving her to heave a thorough sigh of relief, as her cat curled against her leg, sensing her easing.

"Well that was a close one." The woman said.

Heather squeaked again, forgetting about the other female, as she flipped around defensively and held out her fists and ready to punch (not even noticing that she'd dropped the stolen gun). The woman looked normal; she had slightly long, curly caramel hair pulled into a ponytail with a tan tanktop on and regular jeans. Needless to say, she didn't look threatening at all.

"Who are you?" Heather spoke slowly, unsure.

"I should be asking _you _that; with those Matadores chasing after you..." She nodded towards the men, then glanced to the side at the digital wanted sign plastered directly on the wall next to them, the blue glow illuminating the woman's face slightly as she turned back to Heather and looked at her suspiciously. "...and the wanted posters."

"Look," Heather sighed, waving her hands around exasperatedly. "I don't give a shit who you are, I'm tired of running, so if you wanna turn me in then just fucking do it already." She coughed and sighed again, holding out her wrists as if expecting to have a pair of cuffs slap onto them any second.

The woman just smirked and shook her head. "I'm not a cop." She admitted. That lifted a great worry off Heather's chest, but not her paranoia. "You...'set four Yautja loose and are currently hostile'?" She asked, reading off the description of the wanted poster.

The youth rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. I helped four Yautjas escape because they were torturing them in the labs, and I thought it was wrong, so I helped them get out and leave the planet. Now people think I'm capable of making an entire city implode on itself." She finished in one breath. Heather blinked. Her sarcasm made her nostalgic in a split second.

The woman nodded, smiling, gaze averted to the ground. "You were brave to do that." She then looked back up and made eye contact with the girl. "I'm not going to turn you in, though. What you did wasn't wrong." She said.

Heather's brows furrowed and she cocked her head in a way that said 'The hell?', and looked at the other female. "..._Heh_?" She inquired, very short on words.

The woman just laughed. "Come with me," She gestured, placing a hand on Heather's shoulder and leading her out of the alley carefully. "I've got a place where you can hide."

Heather looked at her curiously, but was not about to protest. Before they made it out into the open, Heather quickly scooped her cat off the ground and managed to fit her into the second opening in her backpack, tired of feeling guilty for Luna having to constantly run with her. She zipped it up but enough for the feline to breathe, and hoisted the backpack back on, gesturing for the woman to continue.

"Oh, wait! What's your--"

"I'm Kelly." The woman answered, looking back at her with a serious expression. "And try to keep up. Don't fall behind."

Heather's eyes widened at this, mouth partially open. She wanted to blurt out everything; finding Razor and the others, meeting Wolf again, how much of an ironic event this was...but something told her not to. Not yet. This woman was the one that Wolf was looking for? Or was this just a coincidence? Razor had said his mother was human...and yet she didn't even know if he had been telling her the truth or not. _This _Kelly didn't seem intimidated by her, threatened, angered, or so greedy as to turn her over to the authorities. What if this was a trap?

Ah, here she went with the paranoia again. Her emotions and thoughts colliding with one another, one side telling her to not trust this Kelly, the other side telling her that it was safe, that _she _was safe, at last. And frankly, she was leaning towards the second side. Whatever the cost, she hadn't much of a choice. Wherever she went she would be hunted, so she imagined that she might as well take this chance while she had it, even if it _was _a trap.

"Alright." Was Heather's only reply, and they bolted from the alley to whatever may come.

She wouldn't blurt out anything to this particular Kelly. Not yet. Not until she learned a bit more about her. _Then _she might mention something. For now, she resorted to one final option. She lifted her wrist and pressed the button on the mechanical bracelet, hoping that it wasn't too late.

* * *

("I can't believe we're doing this.") Bleeder commented, sprawled across the floor and wall of a dropship.

("Would you shut up for a minute? I think we've got a transmission coming through." Adamantine snarled.

The six Yautjas were now cramped inside of Adamantine's ship, heading straight towards Earth. Being a busy, let alone popular hunter, Wolf had somehow managed to excuse himself from the Elder during a meeting in order to return to Earth in search of someone he deemed to be..._important_. He didn't want to take any chances, and he was also concerned about his son's current behavior. It had been a while since Razor had acted so squeamish, so it was rather...unpleasant to see him acting in such a way after so long. The older brother tapped the back of Adamantine's seat impatiently, looking out the window and directly at the blue-and-green planet they were approaching.

Adamantine swiftly moved her hand and smacked Razor's hand, a bark emitting him. ("Stop that tapping, you're beginning to make _me _nervous.")

("He's just worried.") Grinder said nonchalantly, placing his hands behind his head and leaning against the wall.

("And you're just a block-head.") The female grumbled.

("Must you insult me with each sentence I speak?") Grinder asked, lazily opening an eye to look at her.

The agitated female turned around and glared at him, her sharp, pale blue eyes already sending a chill down his spine. The two looked at each other for a moment, (supposidly waiting to see who would crack first) as silence struck the ship. Feeling her eye twitch at the long contact, not able to hold her eyes open any longer without blinking, Adamantine just chuckled and turned back to the sticks.

Grinder gave off a snort.

("Agh!") Adamantine suddenly yelped.

The four younger males flipped their attention towards her, startled. ("What?!") They asked simultaneously.

("The transmission,") She pointed to the emergency call that was beeping on the panel in front of her. Wolf stepped forward and examined it, already knowing where this was coming from. ("it's coming straight from Earth. Do you think it might be Heather?") She turned to her father.

("That is her, no doubt. Unless someone else managed to get ahold of the transmitter.") Wolf said, folding his arms. Adamantine shuddered at his last words. ("See if you can track it.")

Adamantine nodded and pressed a button here and there, until a computer screen materialized in front of them. She pressed one more button, and then a signal beeped periodically on the screen. A triangle formed where the tracking device was located, as it circled around and then hit a particular area on the planet. It zoomed in once, twice, and then thrice until it stopped and began beeping louder. The words 'Target Located' beamed red at the top of the screen in a language that would be foreign to Heather, followed by the name of the location, which expectedly glowed 'Neonopolis' at the bottom.

Wolf grinned in his mind and shook his head, turning to his daughter. ("Make haste, Adamantine.")

She nodded and thrust the sticks forward, turbulence immediately thrashed against the ship as it rocked while entering the Earth's atmosphere, sending the four younger males tumbling through the ship and spluttering curses left and right.

* * *

Minutes later, Heather and Kelly arrived at a subtle club that had the words 'House Of Wolves' lighting up in a regular neon sign. Strangely, there didn't seem too many people going in or coming out, though she saw plenty of them inside once the two females stepped through the doors. It wasn't a strip club, much to her surprise (and thankfulness), but rather a standard bar with tables and booths. It looked almost full, until she noticed one or two private booths unoccupied. And as always; men here and there stared at the two like they were lunch served with hot sauce. Heather scowled, glad that she had placed Luna inside her backpack, otherwise she'd have let the animal run loose and swat at anyone who even laid eyes upon her.

Although it remained quiet, besides the faint rock music that played in the background, Luna had caught eye of a man reaching to grab hold of her owner's rear end, and she lunged out with a loud hiss and swiped at the man. This startled Heather, as she flipped around to see the male cowering in fear and muttering curses. She heard Luna growling quietly with her head sticking out of the backpack now, her sharp green-gold eyes glaring at him. Kelly noticed this and laughed.

"You oughta put that thing on a leash!" The man snapped.

Heather stuck her chin high, all to aware that he must've aimed to do something to her with her feline to attack him like that. "Cats don't need leashes. They come and go _where _they want to, and _when _they want to." She replied, turning on her heel and proceeded to follow Kelly.

They stopped at the bar, where a man with short brown hair was cleaning out one of the mugs. He caught the sight of the two females at the corner of his eye, and he looked up to make eye contact with Kelly. He grinned slightly and went back to cleaning the cup.

"Back so soon?" He spoke.

"This is Dallas," Kelly looked to Heather and nodded towards the man. "he runs the bar."

"And who's your friend?" He looked up at Heather curiously, still scrubbing the mug.

Not receiving an answer from either of them, after seeing the youth glance at Kelly, he looked at the older woman questioningly until she rolled her eyes to the right and nodded off. Realizing what she meant, he made an 'Ah' sound in acknowledgement, finally sitting the cup down. He waved off to another man, who was also working behind the bar, as he took up Dallas' shift while he came from around the bar.

He walked past them and gestured to follow, while Kelly did the same to Heather as she walked behind them, not caring in the least if Luna hissed and scratched at anyone who tried to touch her again. He lead them to one of the private booths, which had curtains draped over them, and upon approaching, Kelly shook her head.

"Not enough privacy. This is urgent." She said.

Dallas nodded again and gestured forward again, and they followed. This time, he lead them through two doors and to a back room where the chefs worked. Dallas cut past them and headed for another door, a storage room as it looked, and was fairly deserted. The two women walked through the single door as he shut it carefully and leaned against it, making sure that no one opened it.

"Now, what's so urgent?" He asked, folding his arms.

"This is Heather Adams." Kelly looked at the girl and then back to the barman. "The one who helped four of those creatures escape from Borgia Industries just yesterday."

Dallas' eyes lit up as well as his eyebrows and he straightened up a bit. He seemed more like he was regarding her rather than to be afraid of her. She felt slightly uneasy at this, but was thoroughly thankful that he didn't scramble back to the bar and announce that they had a criminal in the storage room.

"She doesn't have a place to stay, I'm assuming..." Kelly then turned and looked at the girl, who shook her head guiltily and regretfully. "So she needs somewhere to run to."

Dallas nodded and lifted his arms up in a welcoming manner, then dropping them as they hit his thighs with a light slap. "It's not much of a place but you can stay here as long as you need." He said.

Her brows raised, seeming hopeful. "Why are you being so nice to me? Everyone else either cowers in fear or tries to tackle me."

Kelly then walked from Heather's side and joined Dallas. "Because you're not the only person in the city who's been branded a criminal."

Heather blinked. "So you guys are..." She paused.

Dallas raised a hand before dropping it and stuffing it in his jean pocket. "I'm a convict. I was released not too long ago so there are cops that still eye me here and there." He admitted. "And Kelly?" He looked at the woman for a minute.

She turned away from Dallas and looked at Heather. "I'm just like you."

Heather stiffened, awaiting the rest of the woman's answer. She was already almost positive that this was the Kelly that Wolf had mentioned, but she wanted to wait, wait until she had more answers and was absolutely sure that this was her.

"I was arrested for suspicion of aiding those creatures with their usual hunts here on Earth. They released me later on after I was forced to lie to them, saying I had nothing to do with them." Kelly said, her voice sounding sorrowful.

Heather hesitated, until she swallowed and spoke. "And the Yautjas...were a few of them named Razor, Wolf, and Adamantine?" She asked cautiously.

Kelly's brows furrowed immediately. "How do you know those names?"

"I talked with them for a good long while; long enough to know a small bit about their planet. The others were named Bleeder, Neon, and Grinder. I don't know why, it just seemed wrong to me to keep them in those labs. They were being tortured, and I just couldn't handle it!" The girl panicked, placing her hands on her head. "I helped them escape and met Wolf and Adamantine later on before they left the planet."

Kelly stood up, unfolding her arms as she looked at the girl desperately. "They left?" She asked.

"Yes, they left! I didn't want to burden them with myself so I lied and told them I had a place to hide at, that's why I'm running around on the streets. Wolf had mentioned you, he said that they were going to return to look for you soon, but I didn't even know that they were involved with any humans until...until..." She looked up at Kelly wearily.

The older woman's expression calmed a bit, one that looked almost relieved as she closed her eyes and sighed. Reopening her eyes while nodding, she looked back up at Heather. "So they're alright then?"

Heather nodded and smiled faintly. "Yeah, they're fine. Razor's got a lot of scars and burn marks but...he's alright." She grinned at the image of him in her head. He was a pathetic brute even though his image made him seem threatening. Somehow the feeling of being threatened by him was wearing off slowly. Maybe she was getting used to them?

"That's good to know." Kelly answered.

When Heather turned her attention back to Kelly, she noticed that Dallas had already left the room with the door swinging slightly from his exit. She heard faint footsteps, both rushed and calm, as she adjusted to the atmosphere inside the bar with the smell of smoke and alcohol.

"You don't have to tell me the story." Heather said and Kelly looked at her curiously. "The guys already explained it all to me."

Kelly chuckled. "'The guys'?" She inquired.

Heather rolled her eyes amusedly. "Yeah. I wouldn't call them friends just yet but I think we're on the same grounds as comrades or buddies." She said, smirking at the idea herself. Kelly made an amused sound in her throat as she nodded and replaced herself in her previous position against the wall. Heather looked up at her, almost sadly, pensively. "You really care about Wolf, don't you?" She asked.

Kelly paused for a moment, almost as if she got lost in her own thoughts as a faint smile tugged at the edges of her lips. Her eyes gazed at the floor, until finally the smile became whole. "Yeah." She answered, looking up at Heather. "We've been through a lot...and...I don't want to lose him like..." She paused again, as if looking for the right words. Her silence made Heather even more curious at this.

Before Kelly could finish, a scream was heard from behind the door and down the hall along with the sound of dishes breaking and metal clanging. Both females jerked their heads in the direction of the sound, as Dallas burst through the door in a flash. Heather let out a gasp when she saw that he had a large claw mark on his right shoulder and a squealing young girl thrown over his other.

"Mommy!" The girl squeaked as Dallas let her down and grimaced at the pain in his right arm.

Heather's brows furrowed for a moment, extremely curious to why this girl called Kelly 'Mommy'. She was an adorable child at that; long, straight brown hair that came a little above her waist, brown eyes that shined like orbs, and natural puffy cheeks. The little girl latched onto Kelly in utter fear as she whimpered loudly.

Dallas swore and knelt on the ground, trying his hardest not to grip his shoulder. "We got a problem..." He uttered out.

"Oh my God, what happened?!" Heather exclaimed, examining his shoulder. As she looked closer, his arm seemed more burned rather than clawed, a few areas seeming a sickeningly green color.

"Gah!" The man yelped, waving Heather's hands away. "Don't touch it!"

"What is going on!?" Kelly demanded. "Are those burn marks?!"

"Mommy! I saw them!" The girl piped.

Kelly looked down at her and placed her hands on the girl's cheeks. "What did you see, Molly?" So the girl's name was Molly, then. It seemed fitting with the name 'Kelly'.

"I saw them again...the monsters..." The girl hiccuped, trying to hold back tears.

Kelly's eyes widened a great bit as she seemed to drift off into her own world for a minute. She looked up at Dallas worriedly and then to Heather, frantically multitasking in her mind.

"Kelly, what's going on?" Heather demanded.

"Yeah, it's them." Dallas grunted. "We gotta get out of here now. There's one in the kitchen right now and I think I saw another already inside the bar."

"Who is _'them'_?! What are _they_?!" Heather shook her fists.

Kelly then stood up hastily, grabbing Molly's hand and approaching Heather. "They're called Xenomorphs. Has Wolf mentioned _those _to you?" She asked darkly.

Heather blinked but did not suppress her shocked expression. She had no idea what Xenomorphs were or what they looked like, but from what Wolf had mentioned to her and what was happening now, she knew that they must not be friendly creatures. She nodded quickly, unable to voice words just yet.

"Good. Then you should know that they're an even bigger threat than a few Yautjas." Kelly said. "They only think on killing; they aren't like the Yautja, they kill and don't bother asking questions later. Not that they can talk anyhow. Don't you dare hesitate on killing one if it comes down to it."

Heather nodded again, still unable to speak.

"Keep up with me and _don't _fall behind."

Heather nodded a third time, and this time, she reached behind her shoulders and pulled her pistol out from her backpack. She reached around with another hand and zipped the backpack up fully, knowing that she would be having a lot of running ahead of her and she did not want her cat to slip out of the bag. She cocked the pistol and followed Kelly, who helped Dallas off the floor and immediately bolted with Molly right behind her.

Heather just hoped that her Yautja comrades would reach them in time if anything should happen.

* * *

A/N: squee, well i hope that made up for how much i've been slacking on x.o yarh, cliffhangers, yes? so...did anyone find the song title? 8D or do i have to blurt it out? 8D; i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and until next time! :3


	10. Rescued

A/N: _fuck _this took me a long time to write. forgive me. pleeeeeease forgive me. i'm gonna try this: i will try my best to update this fic once a month, and if possible, twice a month, because my life is growing busier by the minute. i've been enjoying my summer vacation, and school will start for me at the end of August, which means i'll be even busier. so...i hope that i can update this fic more often because i love it so, and refuse to end it suddenly.

so i bring you the latest chapter before i go back to enjoying the rest of my summer vacation :)

excuse any typos D:

i do not own Aliens or Predators; the characters unfamiliar to the novels, comics, games, movies, etc. are all mine.

* * *

**Message Ten: Rescued**

Landing in the same spot as they had left, the Yautja group made sure that their cloaking devices were on and their weapons ready to attack anything that got in their way. Thankful that Wolf had installed a piece of the tracking device inside their wrist-comps, they were able to keep an eye on Heather's whereabouts. With their cloaks on, the six of them looked about the rooftop for any sign of their human comrade before they took off into the city itself. Adamantine stood with a hand on her hip, intentionally pouting at the fact that she could hardly see anything through the neon signs and city smog. She wrinkled the area where a nose might be; these cursed lights gave off a lot of heat, and with the people just below them, she was having a hard time making out which was which.

She also sensed that the irritation was mirroring onto Razor, as she heard him let out a frustrated grunt. Growing irritated herself, Adamantine switched to electric vision, not really understanding the point of it, and then switched to Yautja vision, increasing her impatience, and just switching it off to normal vision. If they were going to find their friend, it was going to be difficult.

("Cursed lights...") Grinder rumbled. ("how do these oomans even _see _around here?")

("Their vision is quite different from ours.") Razor replied simply, looking at the bigger Yautja oddly.

("I am well aware of that...") Grinder replied. ("I was stating that there are so many absurd lights in this place that you could probably see this blasted city all the way from home.")

Razor nodded and sighed, silently agreeing with him. He then felt a pat on the shoulder and turned to see his father looking down on him, his white outline only available through the eyes of Razor's mask. ("You have been strangely quiet throughout this whole trip--") He began, though was briefly interrupted by a loud snort and smirk from Grinder. ("--what is wrong?")

(_"If by 'quiet', he means 'screaming like a kainde amedha', then he's right on the spot..."_) Grinder muttered to Bleeder, who replied with a rumble of amusement.

Razor gestured angrily and stepped forth. ("Nothing. Heather just saved our lives and I am eager to repay the dept.")

("Is that all it is? A dept?") He heard his sibling speak, causing him to turn and face her. ("Do you not think of her as a friend? A comrade? I have not even had the honor of conversing with her properly and yet I feel as if she is as close to me as a sister.") The white Yautja spoke, turning to him fully now.

Razor cocked a brow. ("Of course I do.")

Adamantine smirked and shook her head. ("Of course. You're just too lazy to mention it.")

("Whatever.")

("Alright,") Wolf interrupted, examining his wrist-comp. ("I have a reading. Do you all have the same?")

The other five Yaujtas flipped on their wrist-comps and examined the signature, automatically deeming it as their human friend. What would have been Heather showed up as a small red dot among veiny green lines that was a map, and her signature was not staying put, but rather moving..._fast_.

("She is moving rather quickly.") Neon spoke up.

("She's running from something.") Grinder piped, closing the map and looking up. ("We need to hurry or she might get herself killed.")

("Do not forget, there are many possibilities concerning as to why she called us.") Wolf warned them. ("Do not be surprised if we are misled and find her in Borgia's custody. Be prepared for the unexpected, understand?")

The youths nodded simultaneously, and they were off. Razor wanted to remove his mask due to the bright lights, but knew it would serve him no better. As he and the others traversed the rooftops, all six Yautja thought they caught a familiar scent. Taking it as a clue, they followed it, avoiding the authorities and, of course, officers from Borgia Industries. Finding Heather would be easier than necessary with the tracking device, but as Wolf had said, she could be anywhere, and any_one_ could have snatched up her metal bracelet.

Stopping abruptly at the edge of a roof, causing Razor and Grinder to smack right into her, Adamantine froze in place as if she was turned to stone. Grinder spluttered a curse for 'running into her female backside', while the others stared at her dubiously.

("What are you doing??") Razor demanded. ("We are going to lose her if we don't--")

Adamantine lifted a hand and held it up, silencing him on the spot, as she turned her head sharply to look at the others. ("Do you not hear that?")

("Hear _wh_--")

Before Razor could answer, he understood - he _did _hear something, screaming and monsterous shrieking, utter panic not too far away. Wolf stepped ahead and attempted to see something for himself, as he switched his mask to electric vision; the screen turning red, awaiting any _blue forms _to appear. And, almost like an act of providence, popped in one of the blue figures.

Wolf let out a growl under his breath and extended his wrist-blades. ("It appears we have unexpected guests.") He said, and then without question, leaped from the building and onto another, speeding to his target.

("What is he talking about?") Bleeder asked, scratching the back of his head.

("Holy c'jit...") Grinder and Razor snapped together.

Ordering the others to switch their masks' vision, they were finally able to see what had disrupted Wolf; there were dozens of them, not a very large number, but enough to swarm the place, already attacking pedestrians here and there, and they were all pouring from a particular bar shoved off into the corner in the city called House Of Wolves, the very creatures that Razor and his comrades had seen captured and experimented on inside the Borgia labratories.

Kainde Amedha._ Xenomorphs_.

How did so many get out here? That was his first thought. He knew that there were probably only four or five held inside the labratories, but these weren't incapacitated, they showed no signs of experimental alterations, they looked brand new, as if just spawned. This concerned him greatly, and he could sense the same feeling radiating from the other four. What if...what if a Xeno got ahold of Heather? What if her lifeless body was being dragged off somewhere to be fed on?

Roaring aloud, Razor and the others hesitated no longer in bearing their weapons and following Wolf, suddenly feeling the need to smell some Xeno blood on the ground. They kept their cloaks on while infiltrating the bar, not wanting to cause anymore panic among the civillians, as they fired left and right with their plasmacasters, sliced here and there with their wrist-blades.

The four younger males were a little disappointed at this; they had only just escaped from their own hell, and now it seemed that they were heading straight into another, and all for one small human that they felt the need to repay a dept to. But this made all four of them wonder...what would they do once this 'dept' was repaid? Leave her to her own duties? What about Borgia? They would continue pursuing her, and they couldn't keep acting as her bodyguards.

So what would they do once this was over?

("Razor!!") The pale Yautja flipped around and caught his father heading for a back door, the elder gesturing impatiently for them to follow.

Retrieving their weapons from a Xeno carcass, the five followed Wolf through a back door and into a storage room, and here, is where Wolf stopped. Kneeling to the floor and running his scaly palm over the ground, he looked up to another hallway that supposidly lead out of the bar. He then balled his hand into a fist and rose, checking his wrist-comp.

("Heather was here not too long ago.") He spoke, a flicker of hope erupting from the youths. ("She is not far ahead, hurry!")

Not waiting up, the five of them bolted forward, nearly leaving Wolf behind, as they grew ever anxious to find their friend, hoping that Heather was alive and not in bloody clumps of flesh.

* * *

Heather didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. Her body ached, her head throbbed, her legs were sore, her arms and hands were beginning to cramp, she was sweating more than she thought she ever would, and her eyes were burning like hell. She _felt _like hell. And she was almost out of ammo. She was also tired of hearing Kelly shout 'We're almost there' every few minutes. Heather didn't even know the kid, but she was mostly concerned about Molly's safety; a child in the midst of such chaos was a pinnacle of massacre, torture, and anything else that Heather could think of that went along the lines of 'child abuser'.

She grit her teeth as she reloaded her last clip and continued firing into the carnage behind them. There was no point in hiding now, since they were well out in the open and more focused on surviving from the Xenos chasing after them. Heather was beginning to lose hope, she had pressed the button on her metal bracelet thirty minutes ago, and yet her Yautja comrades hadn't shown up. Were they ignoring her? Did they miss the call? Were they still on their way? Whatever the explanation was, she knew that they were dead if they didn't find shelter soon.

Dallas was still in bad condition, with what Heather imagined as acid burning on his shoulder. If he didn't get medical treatment soon...

"Come on!" Kelly called back again. "It's one more block!"

"I don't think we'll _make _another block!" Heather retorted, seeing that she only had three bullets left.

Saving them, she retracted her arm and focused on running. That was it. Just keep running. She was good at running. She'd done it before, and she could do it again. Just run.

She could run...but she could not hold it up forever.

Her feet were not prepared for running this long, and she knew she was going to have dozens of blisters when this was over. _If _she would live to see it over. Despite all the slaughter, Heather could see a few people here and there, mainly more Matadores, chasing after the young fugitive. This pissed her off a great deal even though her fear was clouding it. They were still determined to get that reward. If she wasn't running for her life, then she would gladly turn and fill them full of lead.

But instead, she went with the more logical choice; to keep fucking running.

She hadn't even been able to stop and check on her feline companion, to whom she _knew _was immensely agitated at being slung up and down from Heather's rigorous sprinting. Luna was more than likely thirsting to death, and sweating just like herself, no doubt.

Where the _hell _were Razor and his group?! _That _was her constant thought. If there was ever a time for an emergency, Heather guessed, it was _now_. She suddenly felt angry at herself for not notifying them sooner, otherwise she possibly could have avoided this event. She should have contacted them when she first found out about this Kelly, then they might be here by now. But would that have kept them from getting here any sooner? She thought not. They were either ignoring her or still on their way. She hoped the first option was not the case.

She didn't want them to find her corpse lying in an alley somewhere. She wanted to see them one last time if she were to die soon. She wanted to see her human friends again, even if they were ratting her out. She wanted to see _all _her friends again. But...even with the fringe of hope inside her, she sensed that that wish might not get granted.

"We're close!" Kelly shouted again.

They were getting farther from the disaster, which relieved the girl greatly, seeing as they might actually have a chance. They were almost there. Heather bit the inside of her lip in anticipation. She might actually make it. Clutching her pistol in her hand, she sped up her running, wanting to catch up with Kelly and Dallas. _Damn _if that man could run while injured so badly.

Leaping onto a sidewalk while following Kelly, Heather could see the area that she had told her about; it was next to the Serviteurs' church, but well fortified, even though it was a halfway demolished building. No one was going near it, or entering or leaving it for that matter. This area seemed much more calm, seeing as they were far away from the bar now and closing in on their haven. Heather nearly felt giddy in all her excitement, until...

Like so many times before, Heather was yanked from the street with a hand clasped over her mouth to prevent screaming, inevitably causing her to drop her pistol as an opposite strong arm wrapped tightly around her smaller form. For a moment, Heather felt relief and imagined it was Razor or Wolf, until she realized that this malefactor was no alien.

She immediately stopped flailing when she felt the edge of a knife press against her neck, and looked up to find the dark face of a Serviteur grinning down at her. Her innards writhed at this; was _this _to be her fate? Molested by a voodoo creep instead of being eaten alive by a monstorous creature? ...She seemed to lean towards the first option.

"_I'm gonna die...oh, Jesus, I'm gonna die..."_ She thought, tears suddenly spilling down her cheeks.

"Not a sound," The man spoke, his Jamaican accent hurting her ears. "or I'll have your throat."

Before he could make another move, Heather heard the man abruptly howl in pain, followed by a thick ripping and snapping sound, and the loud thud of his body hitting the ground. Lead to believe this was Razor a second time, Heather flipped around and smiled, though her expression fell quickly when she saw no Yautja standing, but a skeletal black figure advancing on her, bearing its white teeth.

She was about to fire, though suddenly realized that she was a brainless twit for dropping her only weapon. Her chest rose and fell violently as she slowly backed into the corner, knowing that this creature would not hesitate to spare her life. Her back soon hit the wall, the dead end, as she slid down to the ground helplessly, whimpering and sobbing, not taking her eyes off of the thing that would soon end her life.

Then, she thought. She was sorry. Sorry that now, Razor and Adamantine might not find Kelly. Sorry for Molly, Kelly, and Dallas, for they may have their safe-houses, but they may not last long with this infestation running amock. Sorry for her little feline, Luna, for not being able to protect her. Sorry for everything she caused.

Whatever the case, she knew no one would hear her or save her now. The carnage was far behind, Kelly and the others were surely inside their building by now, and...Razor...what of him and his group? She'd never know now. Knowing that she wouldn't even put up a good fight against this demon, Heather sat and sobbed quietly, awaiting her fate.

The Xeno hissed and was now mere inches from her face, as it reeled back and opened its mouth, ready to pierce a hole into her skull. Heather closed her eyes and looked away.

Before she knew it, she heard another loud snapping noise, followed by ripping, hissing, and then the sound of a slimy body hitting the ground. Heather didn't want to take anymore risks, so instead of jumping up in excitement, she very slowly opened her eyes to look up and see who her next '_savior_'was. And, despite all her fear, all her rage, her anxiety, her determination, her vulnerability...she only felt _one _emotion right about now: _happiness_.

Hovering over her lithe form, was the pale Yautja she wished to see among the other five. There he was, suddenly, saving her from what she'd imagined to be her final confrontation, was Razor, his wrist-blades extended and dripping in acidic Xeno blood. Heather felt on the brink of collapsing completely.

("You know, you should really stop acting so selfless sometimes; it's a good way to get yourself killed.") Was all he said.

He offered a hand to her, but instead, she leaped off the ground in a second and latched her arms around his neck, not even noticing the other four youths appearing behind him. Growing uncomfortable, (and an unwanted amount of blush) Razor froze in place and let Heather cling for the moment until it was out of her system. He patted her back once or twice, though figured that was enough for now.

Pulling away and looking through the eyes of his mask, Heather made the happiest face she thought she could make, until it faded into annoyance all of a sudden. Twisting her lips into an irritated sneer, the human girl took her fist and slammed it against his chest rapidly.

("What are you doing?") He snapped, grabbing her wrists. ("What's the matter with you?!")

Heather let out a much needed gasp of air before screaming, "I thought you weren't coming for me!"

Razor raised a brow underneath his mask, as the others looked at her quietly. Razor seemed irritated, but the others felt how she was at the moment. They couldn't blame her for thinking they weren't coming, it had taken them over forty minutes to arrive. Releasing her wrists and hesitating a moment, waiting to see if she'd punch him again, Razor looked down on her as if he was looking for injuries, and was quite relieved that he found none.

("Thank the gods you're uninjured!") Adamantine piped from behind.

"Yes, I'm relieved myself." The girl chuckled nervously.

("We _told _you we'd come back, didn't we?") Razor said as if it was obvious. Heather just smiled up at him. ("Come on. If we're going to get you to safety then we need to hurry.")

"Wait!" Heather yelped, halting them. "I've found Kelly, you have to follow me first!"

Razor and Adamantine exchanged quick glances before looking back to the girl desperately. ("You've found her? Are you certain?") Razor demanded.

"I don't know what _your _idea if _Kelly _looks like, the one I found has curly caramel hair, brown eyes, tan tank-top..." She tried to explain.

The siblings' eyes widened underneath their masks. ("That's her!!") Adamantine barked.

"I know where she went, so follow me." Heather said, and they nodded in agreement.

("Once we find her, we need to find a place for _you _to stay safely.") Razor snarled at her, obviously from protection.

Heather grinned faintly, leading them out of the alley. "...I missed your sarcasm."

Razor snorted. ("...So I don't have to come down here and rescue your pipsqueak ass every day.")

Heather laughed.

* * *

A/N: whew, well, there you have it. it's a little short, but at least i got it done XD tell me how i'm doing, and i promise i'll update as quick as i can! as always, thank you everyone who has continued reading and reviewing this story! it gives me reason to continue! :D


	11. With Care

A/N: i'm terrible. i need to be slapped. someone slap me? :D anyway. this would be the update for this month. my 17th birthday is on the 12th so i'm gonna be busy : plus school has started again...so blah XD anyway, after a while of quiescence, i hope you guys will enjoy this chapter, even though it's kinda short. once again, thank you all for the lovely reviews. they mean a lot to me 3

EDIT: oi! i thought i'd answer some questions to clear things up:

1 - Kelly is in the military and was married to some guy that i have no interest in and who wound up getting killed in AVPR anyway. (XD) Molly is Kelly's daughter. Dallas is a convict who has a brother named Ricky. all three are from the AVPR movie.

2 - Luna is REAL. she's my cat in real life :3

3 - Wolf is the main Predator in AVPR.

4 - yeeeeees it's odd that i paired Wolf up with Kelly ain't it? i'm one for interspecies pairings so blah :P

'scuse the typos and redundance XD;

i don't own Aliens/Predators. all characters in this fic are mine though. except for Wolf, Kelly, Dallas, Molly, and/or Scarface.

**Message Eleven: With Care**

Running. Heather was getting tired of running. It didn't even feel like she had on shoes anymore. It felt like she was walking on _glass_. She was also certain that Luna was beyond pissed off, what with being shoved into a bouncing backpack for more than an hour. She was no doubt _hot _inside the pack as well. Heather knew this all too well, since her face was practically damp with sweat, her clothes were beginning to reek due to, of course, the _sweat _as well. Even though she felt like utter shit, she kept up the pace with Razor and the others. She lead them from the previous alley towards where she saw Kelly running, hoping that they could get inside. The woman certainly seemed serious when she said to keep up.

There was the building; looking strangely eerie to her eyes. The windows and front door were shut with wooden planks nailed over the front of them, a large "KEEP OUT" sign slapped over the door. The neon sign above it was broken, the letters were so deformed and crushed that she couldn't even make out what the name of the building was called. She paused for a moment, causing the others to stop in their tracks, as she looked around to see if she could spot them anywhere before moving on. She ignored Razor's protests and continued forth, looking for another way in, seeing as the wooden planks up front were hammered together pretty damn well.

Running down another alley, she found a door that seemed to connect to the building they were headed for, and with that, she took hold of the handle and readied her pistol, not taking any chances this time. She only had three bullets left, so she needn't waste them, she thought to herself. She opened the door and headed inside a fairly dark room, holding the gun ahead of her to shoot anything that lunged for her. Razor and the other four followed behind, and even though Heather was told this was a safe house, she had no idea where to look for Kelly or if it was still even safe at all. She coughed twice, trying to block out the smell of alchohol and cigarette smoke, as she searched for a lightswitch.

Lucky for her Yautja comrades, though, that they had nightvision. Heather had been to an eye doctor once and was proven that she could see in the dark almost like a cat itself, but she could only see for a temporary time, then she would be virtually blind in the darkness. She moved her free hand over the walls and found a switch, flipping it on, but no light appeared. She muttered and expletive; the lightbulb was blown out. Ignoring the lights for now, she focused on finding Kelly, finding another door and heading to open it. Razor and the others kept their wristblades extracted in need of cutting down a Xeno if they had to.

Heather opened the door and proceeded through, though was lead back outside to her disappointment. Her brows furrowed for a moment, wondering where the woman could have gotten to. Unless...

"Oh shit..."

("What is it?")

Heather turned to them. "This is where Kelly was headed..." She said. "if she's not here, then she must've..."

("Oh for pauk's sake...") Razor slapped a hand over his face.

("She has to be around here somewhere.") Adamantine said, patting her brother on the shoulder. ("Do you know where else she might be?") She asked Heather.

Heather shook her head while looking around for sources. "Unless she got captured by Borgia...my only guess would be the three hostile packs around here." She said.

("...Hostile packs?")

"The Serviteurs, the Dead Men, or those...alien things..."

("Oh...")

Heather let her arms hang as she heaved and panted, amazed that she could still breathe after all this running. She took a hand and ran it through her filthy hair, moving the strays out of her eyes even though strands stuck to her cheeks due to sweat. She was thankful for this small moment of rest, even though her heart felt like it was ready to break through her sternum.

("Do you think she might have gotten kidnapped?") Bleeder asked.

("Kelly isn't stupid enough to get herself kidnapped.") Grinder pointed out. ("Plus these oomans released her not too long ago; I don't see why they'd be after her once again.")

("Not unless they found out she's the mother of _these _two.") Neon chimed, pointing towards Adamantine and Razor.

"Which reminds me," Heather soon spoke up. "if Kelly is your human mother, why don't you have human _in _you?" She asked. "You look like normal Yautja to me."

("Kelly is our stepmother.") Razor replied.

("Good thing, too. Our original mother was turned into a Bad Blood.")

Heather swallowed.

After a brief moment of silence, the slamming and thumping of feet upon metal roofs was heard atop their heads, causing Heather to look up and find Wolf standing on the railing over the parking garage, keeping his balance perfect, strangely enough. She assumed it was the _parkour _in the Yautja. The way he motioned his head made it seem as if he was scanning for anymore nearby threats until he turned his attention to the group below.

("Heather! Are you injured?") He called.

She looked up at him wearily, feeling lightheaded, though kept her mouth shut. "No! I'm alright." She recalled, hiding the scraped elbow.

("Kelly is headed for the Dead Men territory! Make haste, _now_!") He then barked and leaped away, vanishing.

Heather shook her head to fix her eyesight, though she wasn't doing very good. Once her vision started blurring, she knew it could only mean a couple certain things; dehydration and sleep depravation. She hadn't slept in almost two days now, and she hadn't had anything to eat or drink in more than just hours. She knew all too well that very soon, she would more than likely wind up in some deep shit if she didn't feed herself. All while she was trying to keep herself stable, she hadn't noticed until now that her Yautja comrades were all staring at her worriedly.

This certainly peeved her, since that automatically told them that she was sick..._more _than sick.

"What?" She asked idly.

("You're low on nourishment.") Adamantine suddenly spoke, causing Heather to visibly jump at her correct statement.

She chuckled weakly. "What?" She scoffed a bit. "There's nothing wrong with me."

("I'd watch it,") Grinder leaned in. ("female Yautja can tell when someone is lying or feeling sick.")

Heather's eyes narrowed sidewise. "And what does that make _you_?"

Grinder snorted amusidly.

Out of nowhere, Razor raised a hand and placed his knuckles against Heather's forehead, causing her to immediately flinch at the touch, but she didn't reel back. He removed his hand and then placed his thumb in the same spot, looking as if he was trying to read her mind - which she prayed he _wasn't _- then he placed his knuckles on her cheek and felt there. After he was through, he removed his hand and replaced it onto his hip; she could tell that he was giving her a rather serious expression through that mask.

("She's right. Even though your skin feels like you just came out of a pool of water, you're badly dehydrated.") He chimed with his sister.

Heather then huffed and pointed to her head - though made an ass of herself with her dizziness and accidentally pointed to her chest before she corrected herself. "And how can you tell such a thing just by feeling my skin? If I'm sweating a lot that means I've got enough water in me. I'm fine, dammit--oh, shi--"

Before she could finish her sentence, the girl wobbled a bit, nearly losing all of her balance until Razor caught her arm and hoisted her up, making her even more agitated. She wished they'd follow Wolf already and stop wasting time with her.

("Hmm. Either you're drunk or you need food in your stomach.") Neon stated bluntly.

("And _he __**knows **_about being drunk.") Razor jerked his thumb towards the green Yautja, earning a slap on the shoulder.

Heather smirked a little at this, but peeled Razor's hand off and stepped away. "Will you stop bothering with me and follow Wolf? You're going to miss your mother." She turned away and held her arm, trying to make sure she didn't topple over again.

Razor sighed through his mask and folded his arms, taking a couple steps towards her. ("We've missed her for three months. She can wait a few minutes.") He said in an incredibly calm tone. Adamantine understood his words all too well, nodding quietly.

Heather flipped around and pointed at him before poking his chest with her finger. "Listen to me," She snapped quietly. "_**you **_have a mother whose been searching for you for God knows how long, and now you're finally _this _close to meeting her after three months." She gestured with her fingers. "_You _have a mother who's waiting for you. Don't you fucking dare take the risk of winding up finding her body stuffed in an alley somewhere."

This struck Razor and the others with utmost curiosity. The way she spoke made it sound as if she never even _had _a mother. They stared for a moment, contemplating on what to do, leaving Heather to stare up into Razor's mask as if she wanted to punch it, even though she harbored no such thoughts at the moment.

She heaved a sigh and ran a hand over her forehead to wipe the sweat off, suddenly curious at them for this heat. She was practically burning up...but...how come _they _weren't showing any signs of fatigue? "How in the hell can you people _stand _it in this _heat_?" She asked abruptly.

Razor turned his head back towards her, tilting his head a bit and putting his hands on his hips as if he was examining her. The poor girl reeled back though, desperately trying to hide the red that exploded across her cheeks again; with Razor's shredded up shirt, the pale Yautja _was _sweating a great deal...but that didn't help the muscles around his neck and his chest against the stretched fabric of the shirt. Heather gulped.

("Are you kidding? This is the only time we come here to _hunt_.") Razor replied. ("We _love _this weather.")

"I can see that now..."

Adamantine folded her arms and stepped forth, interrupting them. ("Enough. She needs food and water and _now_, otherwise she could pass out.") She ordered.

("We have no supplies, missy.") Grinder stated stupidly, putting his hands on his hips and leaning in to match the female's height.

("Oh, yes we do.") She contradicted, receiving an 'Oh?' from Grinder. She took her index finger and ran it horizontally across his neck and then under his chin, causing him to grow a highly unwanted amount of redness on his reptilian skin. ("I could suck out all your blood and give it to her as an energy drink. She'd be driven up the walls.")

Grinder seemed at a loss of words, spluttering useless letters at her remark, causing the female to laugh aloud. ("You're cruel to me, you know that?") Was all he could manage.

("No I'm not. I just like teasing you is all.") She smirked, flicking the nose of his mask, which made him flinch and reel back at the contact.

"Look," Heather interjected. "I'm serious. Follow Wolf and find Kelly. I've still got my gun so I can head into a store and grab something to drink."

Razor shook his head and turned back to the others, gesturing for them to move on. For a moment, they spoke in that frustrating language that Heather wished she could understand, and finally, the other four nodded and headed on. Adamantine patted his shoulder and dashed ahead, leaving only her and Razor there across from the Serviteurs' church, causing unwanted tension between her and him.

"What did you tell them?" She asked.

("I told them to go on ahead and find Kelly; I'll deal with _you _for now.") He began punching in random digits on his wrist-comp.

Heather sneered. "What the hell does _that _mean?"

He glanced up at her through his mask. ("What's got _your _dander up?")

Before she could answer, the girl felt like she went into instant vertigo; she panted as if she was ready to vomit, sliding down the wall behind her and onto the ground, clutching her stomach. Concerned at this, Razor acted immediately and knelt down, checking her temperature again. He then retracted his wristblades and began to pull off her backpack, not forgetting her feline, and unzipped the top just enough for Luna to peep her head out and get some fresh air.

Heather's head began lolling left and right again, and she made a mental note to kick her own ass later on for being so weak. She felt like punching Razor for burdening himself with her, but she had virtually no strength, so she just sat there and let him fidget.

"What are you doing?" She asked weakly.

("Hush. You're going to ruin your vocal cords if you keep speaking in such a state.") He ordered quite calmly.

Heather's brows twisted upwards at the familiar sentence, casting a small smile across her face. Razor began punching at his opposite vambrace until it hissed and clinked, allowing him to remove it and sit it aside. Heather's eyes began fluttering, giving her only a minimal view of what he was doing. He then extended his blades again and this time, placed the edge against his wrist.

Heather gasped a bit, able to muster up enough strength to grasp his hand gently. "What're you--"

He silenced her, however, by placing a scaled finger against her lips. That certainly shut her up. ("I told you to be quiet.") He said, once again, calmly.

She nodded faintly, allowing him to proceed. He took the blade and drew it against his wrist, causing neon green blood to appear instantly. He shifted closer to her and placed his wrist close to her mouth. The smell of something moist besides sweat made her lips quiver.

("Hurry and drink it.")

Heather winced. "What?"

("You need to drink the blood quickly. It'll give you enough nourishment to stabilize you for a while until you get some actual water in you.")

She shook her head. "I'm not a vampire. I can't--"

("Listen to _me_, now...") He interrupted, more seriously this time. ("Yautja blood allows oomans to live longer lives so long as they apply it to their body somehow, or if they drink it. It nourishes them and revitalizes their systems enough to keep them stable after hundreds of years. This will heal your wounds and wake you up a bit. You _need _this, Kitty.")

Once he was finished, Heather slowly turned her head and made eye contact with him through his mask. It was rare that he called her by her name, and she felt...happy when he'd use her name properly instead of calling her 'girl' or some other absurd nickname he came up with. Almost as if he sensed her thoughts, he nodded and held his wrist up a bit closer for her to drink.

Blinking, and somehow able to stifle a smile, Heather looked down and heaved another weary breath before she placed her lips against his wrist. Oh, she didn't care how it tasted, it felt blissful to drink this particular blood; it was almost like drinking water to her. She inhaled through her nose and placed a weary hand over his own as she continued drinking the greenish blood. She was thankful to him for aiding her at this time. She felt a little regretful to have told him to move on, even though part of her wished he still had gone.

She was troublesome. Or that's all she thought of herself. These Yautja were doing so much for her, and yet she kept waving them off in a rude attempt to not trouble them with her. Here she was, practically drinking the blood of another, and she was still thinking so lowly. Razor cut his own arm open just to get her up and running again. She couldn't imagine anyone _else _doing such a thing for her. Was it just because Razor, even though he was a stubborn brute, had a big heart? Did she remind him of Kelly? Or was it something else?

She still couldn't understand all the kindness. She was such a pain. Why the bother? Almost as if her thoughts were hurting, the poor girl twisted her brows upwards and let a few tears fall. She was so grateful to them for all this mess they were making over her. Mostly to Razor, since he was putting up with her right now. She only wanted them to find Kelly, Molly, and Dallas, and get them to safety. She wanted everything to be back to normal. But...she didn't want to go back to being a _torturer_.

Growing thoroughly uncomfortable with the sudden tears, Razor placed his hand on the back of her head and carefully motioned his thumb in circles in an attempt at affection. The last thing he needed was her _crying _on him. He'd seen enough of that crap. Crying really bothered him, no matter the person. He was curious as to what she was thinking about that would make her do such a thing so suddenly.

("What's wrong with you?") He said. It was more of a statement than a question.

Heather took a moment to stop drinking and breathe, able to feel her limbs already, and wiping her mouth free of the green liquid before she began drinking again. "I wish I knew..." Was all she said.

("Stop crying. You're bothering me.") He stated.

Heather twisted her lips as if trying to _stop _her silent sobbing, but she was failing miserably. "I'm sorry."

("For what?")

"You didn't have to do this. I'm too much trouble for you." She said quietly, and then placed her lips back onto his wrist.

("No you're not.") He replied, gaining her attention. ("You're just accident prone.") He smirked.

"Why are you doing this, exactly?" She asked between sips.

He sighed. She had him there for a moment. Why _was _he doing this? It was a rarity that he was _this _hospitable towards any human female. Was it because she reminded him of Kelly? The hell if he knew. ("You remind me of my mother.") He said, deciding to lie for now, since he honestly couldn't come up with a more logical answer.

"I can tell when you're lying, you know."

Razor flinched.

Taking a last gulp, feeling completely nourished now, she wiped her mouth and quietly took the edge of her shirt and carefully wiped away the remaining blood on his wrist, wishing she had some gauze to wrap it up with. He thanked her quietly before retrieving his vambrace and replaced it back onto his wrist.

"Thank you."

Razor turned around and looked at her through his mask. To his sight, all she looked like was a blob of reds, greens, yellows, and blues. He switched his vision to electric, which turned everything red, but he could see her face much better. He blinked at this. Was she this attractive before? He sighed, mentally punching himself.

("Come on. We have to catch up a good ways.") He said, offering a hand.

Heather smiled faintly and grasped his hand, allowing him to hoist her to her feet. Surprisingly, she didn't stumble at all, and felt quite awake once more. Leaning down to zip up her backpack and sling it over her shoulder, minding her feline, the girl turned and nodded.

("And this time, if you feel sick again or fall behind, shout or scream, would you? I'm not going to leave you here.")

Heather smiled again, nodding once more. "I will."

And with that, the two of them bolted, heading for the Dead Men's territory.

--

A/N: well, there you have it. yay fluff! sorry this is so short and crappy D: we'll have more action in the next chapter, i promise 8D R&R and lemme know what'cha think :3 i'll see y'all the next update! thanks again for reading!


	12. Dead Man Walking

A/N: euuuuugh i am awful. i had really hoped to have this chapter up right on Halloween but i was held back due to more studying because my tests are rolling in, since winter break is almost here. plus i've had some personal issues get in the way, and i've been slightly uninspired as of late. anyway, i hope this chapter makes up for the absence! i'm working on the next one right now :3 thanks in advance to all the readers who reviewed while i was gone! :D

also, check out this really cool picture one of my friends drew of Razor and Kitten! the picture is on my profile for those of you to see if interested :D go have a look, it's really cute!

disclaimer: i think you all know the roll. i don't own Aliens or Predators but most of the characters in this fic are mine unless stated otherwise.

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**Message Twelve: Dead Man Walking**

Dead Men are impervious to pain. The drugs they use anesthesize them to all sensation and rewrite their nervous systems to pick up stray radio messages and TV ad jingles. They believe in nothing. They live to get high...and to die. On this occasion, they had made the mistake of toting black market Prometheus Tech weapons, engineered in the labratories of the Borgia family. Even the _fiercest _hunter needs a camp to come back to. The Devil's Clan brothers must have had their own ship, still hidden somewhere in our city, and would doubtless have left tracks for one of their own kind to follow to their lair, if ever they got lost in this concrete jungle.

To needlessly panic the herd is the sign of a careless hunter. This time the rules of the hunt must be obeyed; Stay out of sight until the time is right to strike, then do so with ruthless purpose. Take only the rightful prey, dishonor is worse in death. Move well...or die.

**Present Time, Neonopolis, 7:31 AM Saturday, June 19th. Dead Men Territory.**

The sun was beginning to rise, and the group found themselves in the Dead Men's territory leaping about the roofs to try and stay out of sight. Heather knew that Luna was undoubtedly dying to get out of the backpack, but she had no choice but to leave the cat in the pack for now. She made a note to give her some water as soon as she released the animal too. Heather then thanked God to feel the sun's rays on her skin, warming herself up if not slightly, after she'd dealt with the freezing night for hours. She knew they couldn't run forever, so they needed to find a place to hide in for the time being. One thing was certain, Heather _had _to get something in her stomach or she swore she'd feel sick real soon. After drinking Razor's blood, she was feeling much, much better, but she was already beginning to feel it wearing down since they'd been running for hours on end to find the Dead Men's territory.

Leaping atop a building while clutching onto Razor's neck, Heather got a clear view of the area with the sunrise leaking through the cracks in between buildings. There was a destroyed train track standing above the ground with pillars that looked weak, there were strip clubs here and there that would be closed within thirty minutes, a few bars, and right smack in the middle was the place that made Heather's spine shiver; the Dead Men's Church. Even in broad daylight, it was the one place that still had music booming so loud that the ground around the building would vibrate and could be heard from about a block away. There, the Dead Men lost themselves in drugs and music.

Heather seemed only a little safer here, since even though the Dead Men were ruthless junkies, they weren't voodoo freaks like the Serviteurs. It was seemingly quiet, though there would be gunfights every now and then. All that was an addition to people going missing, others selling black marketed weapons, and some would steal drugs for use in the Church.

Well...maybe she didn't feel _all _that safe.

Stopping abruptly atop the ruined train track, they all looked down below them to scan the area, Heather being the only one who had to lie down in order to not be seen. She wouldn't have any problem blending in here; since she wore almost the same thing the Dead Men did. Though...not every Dead Man was welcome.

Suddenly, Razor spoke up, ("Are you picking up the same signal I'm getting?") He asked.

The other Yautja multitasked in their masks, eventually all coming to one conclusion: ("There are multiple radio signatures throughout this part of the city...and I'm picking up...") Wolf muttered, punching buttons left and right on his wrist-comp.

("Picking up what?") Razor beckoned for him to continue.

Wolf made a face and let his arm down, looking up. ("Scarface must still be here in the city. His ship is still beneath it.")

Heather twisted her lip, not feeling like asking any questions at the time, even though she had _plenty _to ask.

Startled for a brief moment, Razor looked down below him as he attempted to listen to an incoming message, which was soon transferred to the others' masks. ("Looks like there's already trouble springing up.") Grinder commented.

"_All units, all units...we have an ambulance being raided for drugs in Orsini Green. Be advised this is not a policed zone, and no units should respond to emergency calls from this area."_

Shifting herself onto her elbows, she looked up at them (even though she was looking directly at the sky due to their cloaks) and asked, "What is it?"

Razor made a noise in his throat. ("Eh, an ambulance is being raided for drugs elsewhere in this part of the city, though they said that this was not a _policed _zone.")

Heather huffed a swath of hair out of her face. "Well that's just _perfect_. With a drug raid going on, there's going to be all sorts of shit being stirred up."

Wolf tapped a finger thoughtfully on the chin of his mask, lost in his own thoughts obviously, though the younger Yautja seemed to be paying attention to the commotion ahead. ("Then what do you suggest we do?")

"Kill the people stealing the drugs." She said in a strictly nochalant tone, almost as if it was obvious.

Grinder blinked. ("_Wha_--?")

Rolling her eyes and rising up, scooting back and sitting down properly, Heather looked at them and began gesturing as if trying to explain the situation to them. "Look, I used to live in this part of the city before, and if there's one way to deal with Dead Men, you've got to literally beat the shit out of them if you want them to listen to you." She began.

("That doesn't make any sense.") Razor commented. ("What does that have to do with--")

"If Kelly is somewhere in this area then I'm pretty sure that she's been kidnapped somehow, no matter how much you all think she's not stupid enough to get herself captured."

That certainly shut him up.

"She's probably being held by head honcho of the Dead Men--"

("Head _what_?")

"_**Anyway**_...if we're going to find her, the best thing to do is to stop their supplies, follow the others around, listen in, and eventually we'll gather information we need. The Dead Men are both smart and stupid." She explained. "There are those that are as difficult as a rubix cube and those that are so ridiculous that you can kill them in less than a second." She then shrugged. "And hey, even if Kelly isn't with them, then at least we'd be doing the city a favor by disposing of the Dead Men's leader."

("Meaning...?") Razor beckoned again.

Heather slapped a hand on her forehead. "Just kill the suppliers!"

("I agree with her.") Wolf suddenly spoke, turning to them. ("If we are to find out anything then we must hurry.")

Heather scrambled forward again and examined the area. She imagined she would be somewhat safe if she appeared as one of the Dead Men, as long as she acted like them as well. Her only problem was that she needed a new gun. Or a knife. Or something that she could kill with. Heather looked around and found a single Dead Man heading off into an alley, and a dark grin came across her face.

"Alright, just look for Dead Men...or Dead _Women_... You'll recognize them by their dark clothing. Now get me down from here, and quickly. We don't have all day to get rid of the suppliers." She said.

("Wait just a minute,") Razor began. ("I still don't trust you going off on your own--")

Heather rolled her eyes and turned around to send a smack across Razor's face, even though it was plated by his mask. A crackling noise erupted from the impact, his cloak slightly diminishing around his head and then covering it once again. The other Yautja youths snickered at this.

"Have I _still _not proven myself to you? Just get me down from here dammit!" She barked, kicking his leg and causing him to yelp a protest.

Grumbling to himself, he allowed Heather to climb onto his back as he leaped from the track and down to the ground, allowing her to stand herself up. The others bolted in search of the drug raiders, all jumping into different directions.

Heather brushed herself off and messed with her hair a bit before giving Razor another light kick, which meant for him to move, and he did so with a muttered complaint. She shooed him off and he vanished. This made her slightly uncomfortable, since she could very, _very _faintly hear his footsteps. She didn't like not being able to see those around her, especially when it was an _alien_. Until she could hear the footsteps no more, Heather turned to scan the area for the victim she'd spotted, and saw him making a turn just down the alley she saw him walk into.

After making herself look presentable, Heather strolled through the citizens invisible to the people around her, looking no different from a Dead Woman. She made herself look like she'd just taken a dose of drugs and staggered once or twice, the scene seeming strangely realistic. She headed into the alleyway unnoticed and began to stagger less now that she was out of sight, catching up to the Dead Man.

Once she approached the corner, she peered around to make sure no one was waiting to jump her. Once the coast was clear, she regained her druggie facade and staggered down the alley, passing by others in the open. Finally out of sight and at the dead end, the Dead Man pulled out what looked like a syringe, supposidly ready to inject himself again. Heather made sure her feet were quiet and took big, silent steps towards the man, maintaining a defensive pose. Approaching him and seeing him lift up the sleeve of his jacket, Heather stiffened her hand and formed it into a karate-chop, though would use it for a different purpose.

She took her hand and swished her arm around and slammed the side of her hand against his neck, a faint groan emitting him as he collapsed to the ground, syringe clatternig with him. Shaking her hand, Heather knelt down and shuffled through his jacket, picking out just what she needed; a knife and a small pistol. This wasn't very surprising to her, his choice of weapons. Dead Men always carried either a gun or a knife with them, and she knew that if the first person she'd knocked out didn't have one, then the second one surely would be holding some kind of weapon.

Picking him up and dragging his body against the wall to make it look like he'd passed out from drug overdose, Heather stuffed the knife inside her boot and placed the gun very carefully inside her jeans. When she'd finished the job, she imagined that she would be safe for now, seeing as the gun was hidden fairly well with how she'd positioned it. She needed to be careful, though; the knife would stab her foot if she moved the wrong way without taking it out.

Leaving the unconscious man behind, Heather brought back up her Dead Men facade and strolled through the people once more, looking for anyone suspicious. So far, she only saw a few look at her like they looked at everyone else in this territory; disgusted. Ignoring it, she continued on and searched the area for her next victim. She couldn't believe that she could kill people this easily.

Well...she scratched that idea. She hadn't killed the man in the alley, but what she was about to do would undoubtedly be killing. She'd never done it before, and was surprised at how well she was taking it. As long as she stayed hidden and didn't get caught. That's all that mattered. Feeling a spark of panic rise in her for a split second, Heather spotted a Dead Woman staggering away with a box in her arms...away from a burning ambulance that wasn't too far off.

Seeing as this was one of her targets, Heather followed the woman and stayed behind her, waiting on the girl to get out of sight or head inside an alley. She had only just started and already she was growing impatient. She wished that _she _was the one who had on a cloaking device right about now.

Focusing on her job, she tried to patiently wait on the woman to make her next move, and thanked whatever God there was when she saw the woman stagger to the left and into a dead-end alley, Heather promptly making her way into it as well as the Dead Woman careened down the path and knelt down to open the box. Heather pulled out the stolen knife and quickly shifted closer to the girl, surprisingly making hardly any noise at all.

Though, much to her disappointment, the woman managed to hear the youth's footsteps within a few feet and whipped around to point a gun directly at Heather's face. Sensing this would have probably happened, Heather flew to the ground and scrambled to her feet to make a run for it. The woman began firing mercilessly at Heather's dashing form until the girl went out of sight.

"Shit!" The woman cursed, looking around to see where she had gotten to.

Heather kept a firm hold on her knife as she leaped out from behind a dumpster and brought the Dead Woman into a headlock, bringing the knife up and stabbing her once in the shoulder, causing the woman to drop her weapon. Heather released her, letting her collapse to the ground in a groaning thud, Heather took her chance and quickly drew the knife across the woman's neck deep and hard, finaling her death. Emitting a squeak, the youth jumped up and backed away to make sure she didn't get any blood on herself. The last thing she needed now was to be caught for a crime that she _did _commit.

Taking the Dead Woman's shirt and wiping the blade free of blood, Heather placed it back into her jeans and wiped the remaining blood off her hands as well. She then took the drugs and tossed them into the dumpster, figuring that they weren't of any use now. Lastly, the girl picked up the dead female and dragged her body behind the dumpster, really wishing there wasn't such a large trail of blood leading to her lifeless form. She would toss the woman into the dumpster, but she didn't need anymore blood on her clothes.

Leaving it at that, she made her way to the alley's entrance and staggered back out, looking for her next victim. But before she could even make two steps out of the alley, Heather was suddenly yanked off her feet and into the air. She was thoroughly startled at this, and ushered out an 'Oh my God!' at the movement, but she managed to calm herself when she couldn't see the person's arm around her waist, automatically realizing that this was one of her Yautja comrades.

Her captor finally sitting her down atop a roof, she knelt down to try and hide herself from those below, already spotting someone heading into the alley she'd previously been in.

("As if these drug dealers weren't enough,") That was Razor, and Heather spotted another invisible figure next to him. ("something is going on over here.") He pointed down below them.

Heather peered over the roof and looked down to find a trio of Dead Men approaching a group of men that seemed familiar to the girl, though she couldn't quite remember where she'd seen them before. There was a van off to the side, though Heather couldn't see what was inside.

"Need more special guns." One of the Dead Men said.

One of the others nodded and gestured to the vehicle. "Yeah, I got everything you could need, dude. Take a look inside this truck." He said, almost triumphantly.

The lead punk clad in black turned to look inside the truck, though looked back at the man with a fairly disappointed face. "Not enough. Need **more**." He replied angrily.

The man backed off nervously, holding up his hands. "Man, do you know how hard this Prometheus stuff is to get ahold of?" He defended.

However, the Dead Man seemed unintimidated. "Bring more. One hour." He demanded, pointing at the man and poking his chest threateningly.

"Dude, seriously!" He begged, though the Dead Men ignored him and turned to walk away. "Fuck!" He spat.

Watching the scene, Heather got all the information she needed to know what was going on. The Dead Men were buying black-marketed Prometheus Tech weapons that were engineered by the Borgia family...weapons that she, herself, had once worked on to support the Borgia Industries' security and riot squad. Seeing this, to her, was like being hit in the stomach with a ton of bricks. Weapons that she had once manufactured alongside her friends, were now being sold out on the streets and given to people who would use them against anyone at any time.

This had to be stopped, or many innocents would lose their lives. Heather shook her head at this, unbelieving that she had actually made such weapons that would only be used for murder. Suddenly she leaped up and began shaking Razor's arm whilst staring down at the men below them.

"You have to kill them, now!" She snapped.

("What for? They're not the drug dealers we're looking for.") He returned.

Heather growled. "Those Prometheus Tech weapons are powerful and give the Dead Men an advantage against us. We need to get rid of them now or else they'll be an even tougher crowd to cut through."

Razor sighed and looked down at the truck, catching the heat signatures off of each person or thing, locking a target onto the vehicle. Heather saw the mini-cannon on his shoulder rise up and aim down, realizing this, she leaped back and gave him room, not wanting her head blown off. He aimed and fired, sending a ball of energy through the air and striking the van, causing it to explode on impact.

Being too close to the truck, the three suppliers were flung backwards and the Dead Men were knocked into the street, a couple catching their clothes on fire. It appeared that there were a few dead from both sides, though the surviving dealer whimpered uncontrollably and took off running. A few pedestrians saw this and went into panic at the explosion and the bodies sprawled across the street, though Heather imagined that as long as no one found out it was her and her 'friends', then it was no matter.

"Holy shit..." She exclaimed quietly, eyeing the cannon on Razor's shoulder.

Razor then nonchalantly threw a stray cord of his hair behind his shoulder and looked towards the human girl. ("Anything else?") He asked.

"Uh..."

Just then, Razor flinched a bit as if something buzzed around the side of his head. ("Mmh?") He said, the noise he made sounding as if he was answering to someone's call. ("Right, on my way.")

"What is it?" Heather asked.

("Father says that the drug dealers have been taken care of, but he sees a few more suspicious people around where we first entered the Dead Men's territory.") He replied, standing from his kneeling position.

"Then let's go! I want to get this over with. I'm starting to get drowsy again." She barked, leaping onto Razor's back and clutching on for her life.

He sighed. ("I hope this doesn't take too long._ I'm dying for some C'ntlip right now_...") He muttered the last sentence.

Heather said nothing. She only hoped it wouldn't take long, either.

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A/N: well, there you have it. how was it? probably not as good as the previous ones but don't worry, we got some good action coming up in the next chapter 83 at least i hope it will be good XD anyway, R&R!


	13. Sanctuary

A/N: YOU ALL HAVE PERMISSION TO B!TCH SLAP ME FOR TAKING SO LONG |D;; boy isn't this lovely; our computer got a nasty virus so we're having to wipe the entire hard drive in order to fix it, so i had to back all my things off onto discs. which is why _this _badboy took so long. i thought i'd lost it, though was SO thankful when i found it D: anyways, i really hope this chapter makes up for the long wait XD; if not, i will try to make the next one even better P:

i would also like to greatly thank Shay in particular for the honest review :) it really means a lot!

be aware, part of this was kind of rushed, so i apologize if i flooded it with redundant words...and the occasional typos D: i usually re-read them and correct any mistakes found, though sometimes i miss them lol so forgive me.

Disclaimer: y'all know the drill. i don't own Aliens/Predators, but most of the characters in here are mine except for Wolf, Kelly, Molly, and Dallas.

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**Message Thirteen: Sanctuary**

After being taken for another ride atop the buildings, Heather found herself back where they'd entered the Dead Men's territory; in front of the church. Actually, she was on its _roof _instead of on the broken train tracks, which caused her to become slightly dizzy from all the leaping about high places. This was odd, since she wasn't afraid of heights...although she was _already _sick to her stomach, so this was no surprise. She wobbled a bit when Razor let her off his shoulders, as they peered over the top of the roof, awaiting their next order. Catching something at the corner of her eye, Heather turned and saw a few places in the area seemed to be slightly distorted, and she assumed that was her _other _Yautja friends joining in.

"Blah..." Heather unintentionally spurted, hanging her head from sickness.

("Don't hurl up your intestines just yet,") Razor commented, scanning the area. ("we're not done here.")

Heather mutely waved him off, not having to be told. She took this opportunity to turn her backback around slightly so she could unzip it and check on her feline, who greeted her with a meow. She scratched her on the chin a few times, reassuring the cat with small words before kissing Luna on the forehead and zipping the backpack up again.

("They say that they've seen Kelly around here.")

Heather's ears perked up and she turned around to face him, hiding behind the large, damaged concrete cross that stood tall over the abandoned church. "She's no doubt inside then. Any ideas on how to get in there?"

Razor raised a brow at her. ("This _your _city, you should know the place better than we do.")

Heather faintly punched Razor's shoulder at his statement. "I'm not a _traveller_; I haven't been all over the planet, you know. I only know few things about different areas in Neonopolis, not every single detail."

The Yautja made a guttural groan, which came out as a soft growl, as he waved her off and turned back to find Grinder sending him a signal, one that only _he _could see through the vision in his mask. They were close. Very close. By what he understood, Kelly was inside the church right beneath them, and if they made haste, then they could rescue her and be on their merry way.

However, they knew that taking Kelly back would not be so easy. The Dead Men were stupid; the more drugs they took, the less aware of their surroundings they became. But the drugs also enhanced their eyesight, which made them excellent sharpshooters.

But him and his bretheren could take them easily.

But then...what about the girl? Did she have a weapon? Razor didn't want to have to trouble himself with this girl while they were fighting to get their mother back.

("Hey, girl,") He began, catching her attention. ("do you have a weapon on yourself?")

Heather nodded, getting positioned next to him after she stabilized herself from her previous sickness. "I've got a knife and a gun, but that's all."

("Good enough.")

"Shh! Look!"

Heather pointed to a panicked Dead Man who was running as fast as he could towards their direction it seemed. The girl bit her lip; could they have found out that someone was onto them? She rolled her eyes at herself. Mr._Knowitall _next to her had caused a big enough scene to literally blow up one of the dealer's trucks. No wonder they were in a panic.

The man stopped at the door, sweat decorating his face, as he punched angrily on the buttons of the intercom, looking around nervously. Heather watched carefully and listened well.

"_Passworrrrd..."_ A groggy man's voice seeped through the speaker.

"_Doing out your death_," The other said quickly, "now let me in, man! It's important!"

A grunt was then heard over the intercom as the church doors creaked open slowly, the Dead Man gone within the blink of an eye before the doors even shut. Heather made a note in her mind: that was the _worst _password ever. She snorted.

"I gotta get down there and open the door so you guys can get inside." Heather said.

("Be my guest.") Razor snorted, gesturing towards _off _the top of the building.

Heather punched him on the shoulder. "You will regret your words one day, I swear it." She growled quietly as he began to help her down.

He let out a raspy chuckle, which was meant to be a quiet one. ("We'll see.")

Razor slid down off to the side to where he was standing on the very edge of the roof, allowing Heather to climb down his arm and land roughly, but safely onto the ground with a thud of her feet. She brushed herself off and made her way around the wooden fence, blending in once again with the pedestrians as she strolled on by, approaching the large church doors.

She waited a moment, hesitating, only a slight bit nervous while hoping that she would do this right and not blow her cover. She raised a hand and pressed a button on the intercom, and up came the door-keeper again, sounding even more drained than he was minutes before.

"_Paaassworrrd..." _

"Doing out your death."

Waiting a moment, she thought she had blew it right then and there when the doors didn't open, but she was proven wrong when a clank and creaking was heard as they very slowly moved inwards, revealing the inside of the once abandoned church; a stage was now where the altar used to be, now sporting a large statue of a female-like figure behind it, one hand raised and the other on the hip, a symbol of authority. There were a few women performing on stage, whilst the druggies were stoned and sprawled across the room, enjoying the music until their drugs permitted them to sleep.

Heather slowly made her way inside, wondering if the others were following behind, and was immediately answered when she felt something brush up against her and turned to find a very faint figure next to her, the same from behind and to her other side as well. She ignored them and looked about the room, trying to see if she could find any source of Kelly or the Dead Men's leaders; this was their lair, they never left this church unless they had to. Finding them shouldn't be too hard.

And then, almost like an act of providence once more, the sound of struggling was heard up-top, and Heather looked towards the source to find three Dead Men shoving a blonde woman about, a regular looking man was kicked to the floor, and a child's shrieking was soon blaring throughout the entire hall.

That was indeed their woman.

"Guys," Heather whispered, intentionally turning a hand to smack the invisible being to her left. "up there!"

All looked to the bridge and found that the woman was indeed Kelly, because there wasn't hardly anyone else from outside who would try to take on a Dead Man on their own. She was punching, kicking and screaming, trying to do every bit of damage she could in order to get free. They needed to get up there quickly before she got killed.

Coming up with a quick plan inside her head, Heather rushed behind a pillar and gestured for one of the others to follow. She still couldn't tell who was who, (well...except for Grinder. He was larger than the others and could be easily spotted and identified among them), so she just decided to tell whoever it was that came to her.

("Something wrong?") Grinder.

"No, I have a plan." She whispered, looking around to make sure no one was near them.

("Wonderful.") He replied, almost sarcastically, though meant no harm.

"Let me create a distraction, while I've got the others riled up you all can go grab Kelly. You can take those guys on just fine, right?"

He nodded, pointing up to them. ("No need to worry. They'll be easy prey. Just don't get shot.") And with that, he scrambled off.

Heeding his warning, Heather whipped out her pistol and prepared for a light show. Stepping from around the corner, she aimed her gun at the main girl who was singing. She sighed. Too bad, she didn't want to kill her, but...a Dead Girl is a Dead Girl, and that's the way it was. She was doing her a favor.

Pulling the trigger, Heather fired her weapon twice, seeing the bullets pierce the woman's chest and forehead. This caused the music to come to an abrupt halt, all locking eyes on the singer's body collapsing onto the stage in a loud 'THUMP!' due to the wooden build of the stage.

Silence struck the room, whilst Heather stood mutely next to the pillar, awaiting the rest of them to turn and look to where the bullet had come from...but none did so. They all stared at the dead body atop the stage. Not one person made a sound or moved a muscle.

"You!"

Heather jumped, though paused when she realized that someone in the crowd was pointing accusingly at another Dead Man, an angry expression on his face.

"Oh my God, man! You killed Shelly!" He shouted.

Another man appeared behind the accused and hit him hard over the head with a glass bottle. "You _bastard_!"

In that second, shouts and shrieks filled the room as beer bottles and metal chairs were being flung about as a large fight broke out, every Dead Man and Girl in the area beating each other senseless, accusing him and her of killing the woman on stage. Heather snuck behind the pillar and shuddered.

_That _certainly didn't go how she thought it would. It was a nice distraction, though.

Up top, the six Yautja were crawling around and positioning themselves to where they could jump the three leaders who were staring down at the riot beneath them awkwardly. Without a sound, they all struck at once, leaping onto the three Dead Men with haste and knocking Kelly loose from her captor. The woman was startled by the ambush, scrambling away as fast as she could and hitting her back against the wall.

Kelly looked to a guard nearby, who had Molly in his grip. She looked around again and found Dallas escaping another Dead Man, ending him with a kick to the shin and a knife in the shoulder. He bolted for Kelly and helped her up as the two turned to face Molly and her captor, both lunging forth and taking Molly _and _the man down to the ground. Kelly reached around and snatched up his knife, stabbing him rapidly in the neck and shoulder to get him to release her daughter.

Whilst Kelly was busy rescuing the little girl, Razor was finishing up his job by jamming his wristblades into the back of his prey's head, pulling upwards as hard as he could while letting the sharp knives slice at the flesh and bone, allowing him to rip off the skull entirely. He held it up and roared, declaring his victory aloud, as he then began searching for Heather, who was nowhere to be found.

Grinder was occupied with the second Dead Man leader, who seemed to be putting up quite a fight for a Yautja as large as he was. He was swift and very hard to hit, which greatly agitated Grinder because he was well used to having killed his enemy already, and yet here he was still fighting a small, puny human who was moving faster than a damned fly. Wolf had already decapitated his prey, shaking his hand once as if to try and get the blood off, though ignored it once he claimed the skull as his son had done.

Off to the side, Kelly and Dallas seemed to be having trouble just killing this person, who was gripping onto Molly as if she were their life, absolutely refusing to let go. The little girl screamed and cried, desperately trying to get free of his grip. _Damn_, Kelly thought, _this is one hopped up mother! He's not even budging!_

Seeming to remove the man's hand from her face, finally, Molly was nearly free. She struggled and squirmed, until she saw a near invisible figure appear just a few feet away, blue electricity crackling and revealing a familiar Yautja to her eyes. Wolf figured that there was no need for a disguise now, and so he turned off his cloaking to reveal himself to the other humans before him.

Molly gasped and struggled harder to get free, crying even louder as her body began to ache from the intense grip. "_Daddy_!"

Abruptly coming to a halt, Kelly flipped around at hearing the girl's words and found Wolf kneeling over them, raising his arm and preparing to silence the Dead Man once and for all. She and Dallas both moved quickly out of the way, and down came the wristblades, taking off the man's head completely, the body finally falling completely limp.

Able to move freely now, Molly leaped up and locked her arms around Wolf's waist, clinging to him helplessly and sobbing loudly, her small body shaking from fright. Kelly seemed at a shock as well, staring Wolf straight in the eyes through his mask for a moment before touching a hand to the chin of its metal plating, almost as if in a trance.

"Oh my God, you're--you're alive!" She said quietly, placing her arms around his neck and clutching tightly as he wrapped her and Molly in an embrace. "I thought you were dead!"

("Many have thought this before.") Wolf replied with a chuckle. ("I am glad to have found you alive.")

"Kelly, look." Dallas spoke up, gaining her attention as she turned and looked over Wolf's shoulder to see five other familiar Yautjas decloaking and walking towards them.

She let out a smile as they all stood. "Razor, Adamantine!" She said happily as Razor and Adamantine both gave her a warm hug.

("Wait, hey guys,") Grinder suddenly piped, gaining their attention. ("where is Heather?")

"_**HEY!!**_" A a distressed shout appeared from below. "I WANNA LIVE TOO, FUCKERS!"

All ran over to the edge and peered over to find that the riot had still not calmed down, and Heather appeared to have been caught in the middle of it when she attempted to hide. A Dead Man had her in his grip with a knife pressed to her neck, and was dragging her off near the church's exit, her kicking harshly and squirming as much as she could. A shrill yowling was also heard, the sound being directed back to her cat inside her backpack.

"PUT ME DOWN, GOD DAMN IT!" She screamed, attempting to elbow him in the mouth. "I am so SICK of this happening to me! LET ME GO! _Fuck_! I'm going to _**eviscerate **_you when I get out of this!! GRAHH!"

Not hesitating, the group quickly made their way off the balcony and down below, following Heather as she was dragged outside the church. The Yautjas switched on their cloaking again as they reappeared in the sunlight, whereas Kelly rushed down the street to follow the girl, leaving Dallas to carry Molly.

Angry swearing spluttered from Grinder and Razor as they attempted to catch up with Heather and her captor, though he was running surprisingly faster than they thought any Dead Man could. Thinking that they could outrun him by using their climbing abilities to their advantage, one by one the Yautjas trailed behind Razor as he leaped up and grabbed onto the metal railing of a nearby walkway and climbed up towards the roof.

The view was definitely much better from up top, allowing Razor and the others to traverse about the rooftops and catch up quickly to Heather. She kicked and punched and did anything she could that might slow the Dead Man down, though she couldn't writhe long since the grip he had on her was incredibly painful. Each time she squirmed or even swung an arm he'd tighten his grip around her waist, which was taking a toll on her joints in her elbows. Not just that but she was certain that Luna was highly agitated at being squashed inbetween.

The girl's attention was caught when she heard the clanging of what sounded like footsteps upon a metal roof and looked skyward, barely able to see, only catching a glimpse of her Yautja comrades leaping across from building to building as if they were nothing. Desperate to get free, she continued to kick and squirm like she was set on fire, screaming and gaining more than enough attention to her as a few pedestrians yelped in surprise. Heather couldn't tell if any of them were actually calling the police or not.

A part of her hoped they _were_, and the other half hoped they _weren't_. The last thing she needed right now was cops surrounding the area to a point to where she couldn't even step outside without them _shooting _at her. She couldn't see much, due to her hair flapping in the wind and also because of the rough movement, but when she turned her head upwards again she caught sight of a red blast of energy heading straight towards them, missing the Dead Man's head by a few mere inches.

Both startled at this, the man turned sharply and ran down an alleyway, turning a corner and hiding behind a few garbage cans scattered around. It seemed that the alley wasn't abandoned after all, when a couple other Dead Men and one Girl began conversing to her captor.

"What the hell Jackie, what're you doing with some punk slut?" The woman spat, folding her arms and glaring down at Heather.

She sat silently and grumbled, "_Well __**pardon **__me for my fashion sense_..."

"Listen, you guys ain't gonna believe this," The one addressed as Jackie, who apparently was the one who kidnapped Heather, held a hand out as if to keep the others away. "this chick has a _price _on her; there are cops all over the city lookin' for her!"

The other Dead Men and Girl looked at each other in anticipation, gaining faint grins on their faces as they silently exchanged thoughts. "How much are they askin' for?"

"Sixty grand, I think. She used to work for Borgia Industries."

The Girl gave off a toothy grin to Heather, her bloodshot eyes making her expression seem even more horrific than it needed to be. "Well, no wonder she's worth an arm and a leg."

_I know I want to __**rip off **__your arms and legs right about now... _Heather thought angrily.

Jackie took a heavy breath though, running a hand over his shaved head. "Only one problem though, the bosses are dead, and I think her _little buddies _are responsible." He yanked her up once by the back of her shirt, which made her hurt even worse and caused her to get even more irritated at them.

"Shit! What're we gonna do then? You know we can't do anything without them!" The woman exclaimed.

Before anyone could reply, a loud guttural growl was heard through the alley, silencing everyone on the spot. Heather looked up once again and let out a wide grin when she saw a distorted figure leaping off a wall and landing right in front of the group with a loud thud.

("I'll tell you what you're going to do,") Came Razor's strangely reassuring voice, the sound of his wristblades extending with a sing of the blades. ("you're going to give me that girl or I will _remove _her from you myself...which, if I'm looking at this correctly, would mean taking off _both _of your arms in the process.")

Jackie jumped backwards, stumbling to the ground at the shock. "Oh, fuck! It's the one that took down one of the bosses!" He spluttered.

The woman whipped out a pistol and aimed at Razor. "Kill it! Kill it dead!" She shouted as the other two followed suite and began firing upon the Yautja.

This amused him, since they were missing him in every shot they fired as he dodged the bullets perfectly and swiftly. Much to his surprise, he wound up struck in the shoulder, causing a small bit of neon green blood to splat against the wall. Angered at this, he let out a thunderous roar that could have broken glass windows if any were near, Heather _swore _it. Immediately intimidated, the group backed up against the wall until they ran out of bullets, which gave Razor a turn to move in and dispatch them all.

Avoiding the gruesome sight, Heather looked up once more to find the rest of the Yautjas peering overhead, making sure the pale one did his job and that the girl was safely secured. She leaped off the ground and retrieved one of their pistols, seeing as she dropped her previous one yet _again_.

("We've _got _to get you out of here, every time you wander out into the open you wind up drawing too much attention to yourself and you come _this _close to getting killed.") Razor said, gesturing with his fingers.

"Out of curiosity," Heather replied, wringing her wrists and turning to look at him. This seemed to faintly startle him; her blue eyes seemed like they were glowing through the shadows in the alley. "why are you so concerned about getting me to safety? I mean, it's not that I don't appreciate it, it's just that I'm wondering why my _hunter _is _helping _me."

Razor was slightly taken aback by this; was she for real? He placed his fingers to the forehead of his mask and shook his head. He _really _didn't want to think about that right now. He needed some goddamn _c'ntlip_, _that's _what he wanted to think about.

("You seem to have a bad habit of asking strange questions in dire situations.") He replied.

In that moment, a loud siren was heard in the background, every Yautja turning their heads in the same direction along with Heather. Someone had called the police, and they were not far away. Panic rose within Heather; what was she to do, now? Even if she kept running, they would find her eventually. She didn't know the area very well so she wouldn't know where to hide or to make a quick escape. What was she to do?

She sighed, turning to Razor. "Razor, look, I'll--EEK!!"

Not given the chance to finish her sentence, Heather was yanked into the air once again and soon found herself atop a roof, greeted by Grinder, Neon and Bleeder, who weren't cloaked anymore...but where was Wolf, Adamantine, and Kelly? Where'd Dallas and Molly go?

("You'll _nothing_, we're going to have to keep you out of sight until we can find a safe place for you to stay.") Razor ordered. Heather huffed; she felt like she was being treated as a child.

Once let down, she whapped him on the shoulder again, a disapproving bark emitting him. "Will you give me some warning before grappling me upwards like that?! I'm not used to quick height change like you!"

Razor rolled his eyes under his mask along with his head, rolling his shoulders. ("The police are already onto her.") He said.

Grinder put a finger to his chin thoughtfully, tapping it faintly. ("Well you certainly can't stay on the streets for very long, now. It's more than likely that a lot of people have seen your face and the wanted posters as well, if they see you again they'll undoubtedly call the authorities again.")

Heather hung her head and just collapsed to the ground, sighing angrily. This was _bullshit_! She could do so much better than this. She could get a hotel or maybe rent an apartment...if the people there hadn't seen the wanted ads already. She could probably get a job...but again, the wanted posters were plastered everywhere. She pulled on her hair; she really messed up this time. She had no idea that Borgia would go this far to stop her after what she'd done, what was the big deal anyway?

All she did was let loose a few Yautjas. Why was she worth being chased after and dragged back for execution? Did she just know more than they did and they wanted whatever information she had stored inside her head? Were they conducting something bigger than she imagined and she just happened to free it, ruining their plans?

Damn it, she was getting a _headache_.

("Hey,") Razor poked her. ("are you getting queasy again already?")

She slapped his hand, cranky enough as it is. "Don't touch me." He snorted at her response.

Out of nowhere, Heather heard a faint buzzing sound come from behind her, which she actually felt on the small of her back. Her brows furrowed as she removed her backpack and unzipped it--Luna immediately popping her head out for some fresh air--and began digging down inside to find the source of the buzzing.

("What, now?") Razor asked.

Heather pulled out her cell-phone, to which she imagined to be broken as much as she'd been tossed around, though appeared to be working just fine. She looked at the number, seeing as it was very familiar; it was a cellphone number, and she knew who the caller was.

She swallowed, looking quite shocked at her phone, wondering if she should answer it or not. Ignoring Razor's inquries, she pressed a button and held the phone to her ear and said, very hesitantly, "H-hello?"

"_Kitty! Oh, thank God, where the fuck have you been!?"_ Jason. What a surprise, indeed.

She gulped again, should she hang up? What if Jason was with Borgia right now and they were tracking her call right now? "Jason? Why are you calling me?" Was what she asked.

The Yautjas knelt down as they watched her. _"You're all over the damn news, you've got Borgia Industries on a bloody riot, and word is that you're out there with your test subjects right now!"_ He snapped, though appeared to be whispering.

Heather folded her arms as well as her legs, leaning back a bit at this news. "You mean to tell me you and the others weren't ratting me out after what I'd done? After I," She began in a highly mocking tone. "released the most hostile pack of Yautjas the entire galaxy has ever seen and now that they're loose they're gonna nuke the _entire _fucking planet!" She flung her arms out flamboyantly.

Silence stretched for a few minutes before Jason finally replied. _"And what made you think I would do such a thing? You're my __**friend**__, Heather, for God's sake. I'm not one to backstab unless it's been done to me first, you of all people should know that."_

Heather bit her lip, looking to the others for some small amount of comfort. "Yeah, you're right." She said wryly. "But y'know it's kind of hard to trust people now that I've got the entire city after me. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hang up on you right now."

"_So instead of trusting me, Sahara, and Corona, you're slumming it with your little aliens?"_ Jason asked, seeming a little insulted. Heather made an approving sound in her throat, though didn't answer fully. _"Alright, I'll give you a reason. You don't have any place to run to, do you? Seeing as there are wanted ads on every wall here, you know..."_

She raised a curious eyebrow. "Yes...? And?"

"_If you still trust and care about your friends then you'll meet me at my sister's apartment. Myself and the girls have cleared out of Borgia Industries as well because the cops consider us as lead witnesses, though we're not telling them anything because we're wanting to both, keep you safe and also because it's true that we __**don't **__know anything."_ He explained.

Heather ran her palm through the back of her neck and rubbed it nervously. "Alright, alright, fine." She said quickly. She trusted her friends, but she wanted to be cautious. If Jason tried anything while she was at the apartment then she would not hesitate to kill him. Or to call out for help this time, to her Yautja friends.

"_Good, I'll see you this afternoon. I suggest you stay hidden until then. I've got to tell Teri about this, so it might take us a while to set up some guards to keep out the cops."_ He said, still in that whispering tone.

The girl's eyes narrowed at this. "What do you mean 'set up some guards'?"

"_Oh come on, Kitty, we've gotta have Sahara and Corona do something while we're hiding out, right?"_ He chuckled a bit_. "You know how easily they become bored. Keeping cops out of our apartment should be entertaining enough."_

She sighed irritably. "Right, right. You'd just better meet me there. I swear to God Jason, if you fuck this up I will _not _hesitate to search for you and I _will _kill you." She growled.

He laughed over the phone this time. _"I know you would, and I think I would __**want **__you to anyway. I'll see you tonight, kid."_

"Whatever. Bye." And with that, she hung up the phone and stuffed it back into her backpack.

("What was that about?") Grinder questioned.

Heather sighed again and looked up at him, rubbing her temples. "That was my friend Jason, you might remember him. Long black hair, brown eyes..."

("Oh yeah, I remember that punk,") Razor snapped, a faint growl emitting his throat. ("he seemed to like poking me with a _shock stick_ when you'd leave your room.")

Heather looked at him, shocked. Did Jason actually sneak into her room and do such a thing behind her back? Strange, why would he even want to do that? Her brain hurt, she couldn't come up with a logical explanation right now. "Seems like a lot of people like poking you with _sharp _and _electrical _things." She said.

("Believe me, I've seen quite my share of them, girl.") He replied angrily. She fidgeted.

Grinder flailed his hands, separating the two. ("Enough, what did you mean by meeting him at an apartment?")

("Let's hope you found a place to stay; we can't keep you out of sight forever.") Bleeder spoke up. Neon nodded with him, agreeing.

The human girl turned to look at him, her expression blank. "Actually, that's precisely what he was telling me." She said. "He offered to keep me safe in his sister's apartment for now. After that I...I'm not sure. We'll work something out...in the meantime, we just need to stay _out _of the open completely, especially on the way to the apartment."

The four nodded. ("Well, then. I suppose I should tell the family.") Razor said, raising himself a bit to look ahead.

Heather turned to him. "Speaking of which, where _are _they--oh shit, you're bleeding!" She quietly yelped, seeing that half his right arm and shoulder was covered in green blood.

Ignoring her, he gestured forward and pointed past them. ("Right over there,") Wolf, Adamantine and Kelly were spotted atop a roof not too far from them along with Dallas and Molly, the little girl waving at them as Razor returned the gesture. ("And this is nothing. Don't worry about it.") He then replied to Heather's previous outburst.

"No, no, we gotta get that patched up. It's bad enough that your wrist is exposed, I can't let you just _bleed _to death..." The female youth said, almost in a begging tone. Razor groaned.

("I won't bleed to death for Paya's sake, I'm not a senseless human--" Before he could finish, he got one look of her expression and silenced. There was something about it...something in her that always found a way to make his words fall mute. Either her expression or her personality, it didn't matter, there was just something strange as to how it made him feel...and right now, he felt _guilty_.

Rolling her eyes, she reached inside her backpack and pulled out one of her shirts, making sure that her cat stayed put inside the bag. Once the shirt was removed, she twirled it a bit until it was perfect for being wrapped up, taking it and shifting towards him. Razor felt nervous at the close contact, inching away just a slight bit, though didn't move much farther. Heather sighed at him.

"Do you still not trust me?"

He took a moment to think this over. ("I don't know.") He mumbled.

She looked at him, trying to hear what he'd said, but shrugged it off, not wanting to push him further and also due to the fact that communicating with him was near impossible on subjects such as that. She took her spare shirt and wrapped it around his shoulder, tightening it to put pressure on the wound before knotting the ends of it, securing it in place.

Though once she was done, she didn't move away from him like she'd normally do. No, much to his surprise, instead, she leaned forward a bit to where she imagined she was close enough to his ear. "_I think that you need my help, too, not just me being an idiotic urban damsel in distress_." She whispered.

He let her words sink in, but didn't move a muscle. She moved away of her own accord and sat back, letting her cat get some air while she could before they took off for the said apartments. Razor adjusted himself and folded his legs, his ears blocking out the conversation that began between Neon, Bleeder, Grinder and Heather. There he went again, thinking too much. Pondering about too many things. He didn't like it. He didn't like thinking too much. Because it distracted him, it made him _weak_, it made him _vulnerable _to many things, and he didn't _like _being _any _of those things.

He rested his cheek on his knuckles as he thought; perhaps Heather was right? Ever since he and his family were separated, his attitude had somewhat changed. He was more closed in, kept silent, he was tempermental, and quite pessimistic. He imagined that was the only way he could deal with things as the way they were, but what if he was wrong?

He groaned loudly, which sounded more like a growl. He didn't want to think about this now. He didn't want to think about anything. He just wanted to get Heather to that apartment and to safety. He could rest once that was done. He could sleep, have time to put his thoughts out of mind.

"You okay?"

He opened one eye through his mask to look at the others. ("I'm fine.")

"Well, now look who's on the lying side?" Heather said, grinning.

He snarled at her again, but she only chuckled. ("I'm always fine.") He retorted silently.

"And I'm a prancing Leprechuan." The girl replied. This struck the others with confusion. "You won't burden yourself with me any longer once we get to that apartment, I promise you." She said rather calmly, though she had this deep, burdening tone in it.

He sighed, shaking his head before covering his forehead with his palm. He wanted to rest, indeed...however, part of him was partially, and very silently wishing, that this wouldn't end. He didn't know what they would do to keep her safe after all this...and he didn't know how. It was that _one _answer that kept running from him...

...what _was _it that was making him want to keep her safe?

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A/N: well, there you have it! :D i hope it was worth the wait. i'll see how long it takes me to get the next chapter done, what with our computer all confuckulated and such D8 until then, see you guys on the other side!


	14. Reside and Hide

A/N: WOAH. long time no update XD weeeell a lot has happened to me in the past month, and i guess i kinda got hung on this chapter and just...began procrastinating like crazy. like i was going: "BLAH I don't wanna do this and I don't wanna do that and asfhjsgfklgfs'gfsieleven. -crawls into bed & rots-" so yeah XD; do forgive me for the lateness of this chapter ;^; I'LL GIVE YOU COOKIES -hands them out-

EXCUSE ANY TYPOS. you guys know the drill. i do not own AVP, although the majority of the characters in this story are mine.

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**Message Fourteen: Reside and Hide**

Night was soon falling, the sun setting over the horizon and casting a faint orange glow upon the city and its inhabitants. The group managed to get some well earned rest during the day, now waiting silently for Heather's friend to arrive. Heather allowed Luna to walk around for a change before they reached their destination, she made a mental note to give the poor cat some water the instant they arrived. However, she wanted to take precautions once they showed up, which is why they were sitting quietly atop a roof just across the apartment building. She wanted to make sure he was alone, because if he wasn't, then she would make him pay dearly for lying to her.

All she had to do was play the waiting game, which she didn't really like doing sometimes. The others were sprawled about the roof, looking completely bored, save for Wolf and Kelly, who were keeping their eyes out for enemies even though they were easily reminiscing about before their family had been separated. She giggled, finding this cute; Molly was sitting safely in Wolf's lap, idly playing with his dreadlocks. Razor and Adamantine sat off near the edge, but close enough to the others to hear and talk back. Dallas was sitting not too far away, now with part of a torn shirt wrapped around the wound on his shoulder. Heather lay on her stomach, peering over the edge of the building with Neon, Bleeder, and Grinder in the same position as she. She found this amusing, seeing them lying like this did _not _fit their fearsome appearance.

She tapped her fingers on the edge, keeping her eyes locked on the flight of stairs leading to the apartments, figuring that Jason would arrive at any moment now. She heard Grinder roll over and grunt, lying on his back and placing a hand on the back of his head for support.

("So, what's on your mind, kid? You haven't said a word for hours.") He spoke, the girl giving him a sideglance.

"Lots of things. What goes on in my head isn't important." She sounded tired.

("Oh, come now,") Bleeder piped. ("everyone's thoughts are worth viewing. Unless they're a deranged maniac, or something.") He earned a smirk from her.

She sighed, grinning at his previous statement. "Still, it's nothing interesting."

("You should know that these two will continue prodding until you tell them what they want to know. _They're _the persistent ones of the group.") Neon spoke up, Bleeder slapping him on the shoulder.

"Keep being persistent," She chuckled. "I still won't budge."

Grinder grumbled something, though said nothing. Heather lay in position for a few more minutes before catching sight of a black car driving into the parking lot just beneath them, a group of Matadores thugs were standing in one spot as if expecting someone. She instantly scooted forward a bit, thinking that it might be Jason, but was proven wrong when she saw an unfamiliar man step out of the car.

She sighed aggravatedly, she was getting impatient. She seemed interested in what these Matadores were doing in a group as they were, usually they were either spread about the area looking for anyone who might cause them trouble or they were holed up in their 'crib', which was only a couple buildings away from where she and her comrades were at.

"What's up, boss?"

The man leaned against his car and nodded at them. "I got some good news for us," The thugs looked at him in anticipation. "the voodoo boys and fucking drug heads are gone, and I heard someone even took out Don Giovanni's whole private island!"

The Matadores let out cheers of enthusiasm at this news, though Heather had no idea what they were talking about. She didn't know who this Don Giovanni was _or _his private island. She rested her head on her forearms, this wasn't too important, so she paid no mind to them. She then heard Grinder roll over onto his stomach again and peered over the top, scanning the men below them.

"Yeah, with those pendejos gone, there's a whole lot of business for Los Matadores to take care of." The man said, grinning smugly at this. "Hey - it's gonna be the high life for us from now on, eh amigos?" The thugs cheered at the man, all sharing their excitement.

Grinder tilted his head. ("Did they say Don Giovanni?") Heather mumbled a 'Yes' to him. ("Must've been Scarface. Sounds to me like he's pretty damn serious about his honor, this time.") He said.

("No kidding,") Neon chimed, shaking his head. ("last time I heard him through a transmission he sounded completely different, I hardly recognized him.")

Bleeder then rose up, looking back and forth from the two. ("I thought that he already paid his debts. Why did they send him here?") He asked.

("Because the guy didn't finish the _job_, that's why.") Neon retorted.

Curious now, the girl raised a brow at their conversation. "Who is this Scarface? I've heard you mention him before." She questioned.

Grinder waved a hand. ("He's another one of ours. He was exiled a _long _time ago for breaking the laws of our kind during a hunt. Our Elder sent him to a remote planet to make up for what he'd done, and as a final test, one hundred years later, they sent him back here, to Earth.") He explained. ("Which is precisely what he's doing right now. He's trying to prove that he's worthy of being brought back into the clan.")

Heather's brows furrowed at this revelation, completely appalled at how strict the Yautjas' people were. "_Jesus _your kind doesn't take humiliation too well, do they?" She spluttered.

The three males snorted and laughed at this. ("Quite right.") Neon smirked.

Just then, Heather's head perked up. "Oh...oh! Lookit!" She flailed her hands and shook the others around her excitedly, trying to direct their attention towards what she was looking at.

Irritated at her frantic behavior, Grinder rolled back over to see what she was pointing at: a young man was seen approaching the stairwell to the apartment, he had long black hair and was wearing a long, black leather trench coat.

"That's him! Hurry, we gotta get down there before he gets to the door!"

And with that, the group hurried together and rushed across to the opposite building's rooftop, trying not to draw too much attention to themselves even _with _their cloaks on; they still had their human friends to account for. Once at their destination, Heather lead them towards a back entrance into the apartments, knowing that it was too late to take the front entrance, she wanted to surprise him...with her _little aliens_. She wanted to make _sure _he _knew _she wasn't playing in this situation.

Hopping off the roof and down to a walkway, she looked up and gestured for them to follow. ("Why do we need to come with you?") Razor questioned.

"Not _everyone_. I think some of you should stay out here and keep an eye out for any authorities. I do, however, want at least three of you with me; I want to intimidate him a little." Heather said, a faint, angry smile forming on her lips. It was barely noticeable, though.

A pause came, until Razor grinned beneath his mask at her. Sometimes he _liked _how she got things done. ("But what about the other girl that lived here? Does she know about you?") He suddenly asked.

Heather shrugged. "Teri is at work right now, so we don't have to worry about her. Besides, I know the password to get inside." She replied.

("Alright, the four of us will come.") Razor agreed, gesturing to Grinder, Neon and Bleeder.

"We'll keep watch. Be sure to let us know what happens when you come out." Kelly said. Heather nodded with a smile.

("Remember,") Wolf then appeared overhead, Molly still clinging to his side. ("I still have your tracker waypoint installed into our masks and wrist-comps, so if anything happens, we'll be able to track you down...provided the bangle isn't removed.")

She nodded again and smiled once more. "Thank you."

("Time to spook some people.") Grinder snorted and made a wild, goofy sounding laugh that sent a few chills down Heather's spine, even if he _was _trying to be humorous. She had a hard time suppressing her laughter at him though.

Jason entered an open hallway and approached his door, looking around a bit to try and locate his friend. The two spanish girls, Sahara and Corona, stood next to him and searched the area as well, awaiting the black-haired girl to show up. After waiting a few good minutes, the man shrugged and turned to unlock his door.

"Come on, no use staying out here in this godforsaken heat. We'll wait for her inside." Jason said, turning the doorknob and pushing it open.

"What if she doesn't come?" Sahara asked. "You said that she didn't sound too sure about coming here, and I don't blame her for not trusting us." She shook her head.

"She'll come, I know her too well, and so do you." He replied, the spanish woman hanging her head a bit.

Once the door was fully opened, they made their way inside to the ruddy apartment room. Jason was about to put his cellphone back inside his pocket until he heard the two females gasp aloud, causing him to turn his head upwards and see what caught their attention.

"Oh!" Jason yelped, backing up and right into Sahara's much taller form.

There sat Heather with her feet propped up on his computer desk, looking completely relaxed, save for her face, which shot daggers straight into him. Luna was also spotted sitting right next to her feet. But what had caught them by surprise was the four Yautjas sitting nonchalantly around her, Razor sat on the same desk Heather was content with, whilst Grinder and Neon stood next to her, Bleeder leaning on the desk with his arms folded against his chest.

Needless to say, this was a sight that would have given anyone else a heart attack.

"I kinda forgot how comfy this place was, even if they didn't have the best looking rooms here..." Heather commented, spotting a roach scittering across the floor beneath her.

"_Jesus_, you're lucky my sister didn't walk in here and find you like that!" Jason spat, throwing a duffle bag he had with him off to the side and tossed his keys on the couch angrily.

Heather just scoffed. "A _stripper _can _run _but they can't all _fight _too well."

"Ah..." Corona fidgeted one hand while keeping her eyes on the aliens in the room.

Sahara shared her nervousness and turned her head slightly, looking like she'd seen something she really wished she hadn't. "Kitten...? Why are those..."

The girl blinked and shared a look with Razor as he turned around and eyed her, both wearing the same expression, even if his face wasn't visible. "Oh, you know these guys already. This is Razor, Grinder, Neon and Bleeder." She said, pointing to each one of them.

"Oh, so they have _names _now." Jason's eyes narrowed at her, mocking the young girl.

The girl's eyes seemed to narrow dangerously at him, but she regained herself quickly. "Everything in the universe has a name." Heather shot back in an incredibly calm tone. This caught Razor's attention as he turned around to look at her once more, this time, regarding her and the familiar sentence.

Jason, seeming angry with Heather now, gestured to the four. "_Why _are they here?"

"Because they're so stubborn that they want to stick around until they know for _sure _that I'm absolutely safe and out of harm's way." She stated, earning a snort from Grinder and a smirk from Bleeder.

Grinder folded his arms then. ("Well it's not _our _fault that you constantly get into trouble.") He said.

Corona yelped. "Holy crap, it can talk!"

Heather turned around to look at Grinder. "Partially, it _is _your fault, but it's _mine _more or less for my decision." She smiled at him and he returned the gesture.

("How the hell do you think we communicate with each other?") Bleeder barked amusidly at the spanish woman.

"Aye, this is so fucking creepy and yet so awesome at the same time." Sahara said while laughing faintly, her eyes seemed to sparkle with interest at this. Jason immediately turned around and gave her a look, though she ignored him.

"Anyway," Heather interrupted. "now that you all have been properly introduced, I think you can relax now."

"Ain't no way I'll be able to relax with _them _in here." Jason said, taking off his coat and tossing it aside as well, sweat staining his black t-shirt.

Heather's eyes narrowed but she cocked a brow at him. "What's wrong, Jason?" She asked. "Are you afraid to become the prey of your prisoners?"

His brown eyes locked upon her navy ones and sent a threatening glare that could make anyone shift away in intimidation, though Heather did not budge. "What's happened to you?" He said in a disappointed tone.

Sahara sat down in a nearby chair and tried to calm him down. "Jason, she only did what she thought was right." She said, attempting to defend the girl.

"And what she did sent _all _of Borgia Industries on a frantic rampage!" He snapped back.

Heather grinned lightly. "Well what I did should certainly get them thinking about things." She said, folding her arms. "I was just fine with experimenting, but _torturing _is just a new level of _low _that I can't even begin to describe. You should have seen them, Jason..." Her tone softened this time, all four Yautjas keeping an eye on her as she spoke. "you weren't there working on them...you weren't there to hear their roars and howls, you didn't see the abrasive wounds and scars that were all over their bodies..." She shook her head, turning away, unable to finish her sentence.

Silence struck the room. Too much silence that Razor grew impatient with the situation. He didn't think it would mean much, but he wanted to help Heather out this one time, so he went with it; he raised his hand and began unhooking the tubes from the side of his mask, gaining everyone's attention at hearing the hissing sound. Once unplugged, he removed his mask completely which revealed a tired and worn face that Heather hadn't seen in days. She felt horrible for him, he looked _exhausted_, his eyes showed tiredness and his face was also covered in dirt and sweat.

What he intended to show was the small cuts and scars plastered across his forehead and mouth, as he ran his fingers over a few of the larger scars over his temple and mid-section of the forehead. He wondered if his tattoo was even still visible. Keeping one hand on his forehead, he took his helmet and handed it to Heather, who took it questioningly.

Jason and Razor locked eyes, hazel meeting heavily pale azure, the two examining each other, though Razor was testing the human to see if he could take the staring, or if he would break and turn away. Surprisingly, he stayed put.

("I was told once that mercy is the gesture of a true warrior,") He began, his voice though still gruff, was much clearer now that his helmet was removed. ("and that those who kill _mercilessly _are true devils.") Heather kept her eyes on him, wondering where he was going with this. ("Now you look at her and tell me which side she belongs on.") He finished, in a challenging tone.

Jason looked at the Yautja strangely, quite taken aback by his words, much more at how well he could speak english. His eyes then flickered over towards Heather, who still had her eyes set on the pale creature. Razor didn't really care if he answered or not, he just wanted to settle this here and now before they could rest at all.

("Whatever side she may be on, I do know that she was the only one in the entire facility who actually took the risk of helping us escape, helping us find our family that we had thought was long dead.") He continued. ("We are only here to make sure that you understand one thing: we will be _watching _your every move until we know for _certain _that Kitten is safe here.")

His words were stern and official, and the way his alien-like voice sounded it only made Jason shudder with fright. The cold stare that the Yautja was giving him didn't help any better either. Heather sat silently in the ruddy chair, clutching tightly onto Razor's mask, awaiting for someone to speak up. Unconsciously, she ran her fingers alongside the rims of the helmet, feeling every bump, claw mark, and burned area beneath her fingertips. His armor had indeed been in many unfortunate incidents.

The silence becoming slightly uncomfortable, Grinder took the opportunity to follow Razor's words. ("Heather helped us escape from our prison, and we intend to return the favor. We will not leave the city, let alone the planet itself, until she is kept hidden and is protected from Borgia Industries and any authorities in the city.")

("Not to mention that she's nicer than most female Yautja.") Bleeder smirked, Heather rolling her eyes at his comment.

"I don't get it..." Jason then commented, rubbing his chin and mouth nervously. "Your kind _hunts _us. We're your _prey_, and yet...you're wanting to help us."

("Correction,") Neon cut in. ("we're wanting to help _Heather_. _She _is the one who risked her life for us.")

Jason's brows knitted together at this. "...So you don't really care if _we _live or die? Your only concern is Kitten?" His words weren't really questioning, they were meant to be a statement, as he added a bit of surprise in his tone.

Razor rolled his neck and popped it, loosening the tight joints and rubbing at the back of his neck. ("That's an accurate summation.") He said nonchalantly.

Heather blushed heavily again when he popped his neck, kiving a kick towards his rump to which he turned around and hissed at her for. She just giggled. ("Leave that alone.") He ordered...but almost playfully. This intruiged Heather since she'd hardly ever heard him speak so teasingly, she just continued her giggle fit.

Jason watched this carefully. By the looks of things, the five of them were the closest of friends, and the way Heather smiled at the palest one...it was a strange thing to make him observe the two further. The way she smiled at him was very unique, one of those smiles that she gave off when she was truly happy...which was a rarity ever since her parents had lost their lives.

"Well?" Heather said aloud, snapping him from his thoughts.

"Hmm?" He mumbled, looking at her.

She removed her feet from the desk and stood, walking around it and sitting next to Razor on the table, holding his mask against her chest. "Do you swear to keep anyone working for Borgia away from me? At least until they cool down about this entire mess." She looked at him seriously.

Jason nodded. "Of course I will. That's what I told you in the first place."

"_But_..." Heather interrupted in a warning tone. "you are in a perfect position to call up Lucretia and tell her right now where I'm at or where I've been and might go. I hate being this agressive with our friendship but when I've got half the city hounding after me, it's hard to know which face is lying and which is telling the truth."

Jason, Sahara and Corona all nodded. She was correct on those terms, and now that that had been spilled, Jason knew that she wasn't playing around. If he made one single mistake, if he came across an official working for Borgia and accidentally spilled something, he would certainly regret it. They had to watch their steps now that they had...four Yautjas stalking their every move.

"Alright," He began. "I'll do all I can to keep them off of you. But once this cools down, you find a place to stay on your own."

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

He just waved at her.

With that, Razor scooted off the desk and the others straightened, preparing to leave. He turned to Heather who still had his helmet in her grip, catching his eyes, Heather quickly handed it back to him, feeling nervous of holding it. He took it and thanked her, reattaching it onto his face.

Sahara jumped up and sat on her knees in the chair she was in. "Going so soon?" She inquired. "Oh, wait! Tell me, does your species have their own language?" She questioned, looking somewhat...excited.

The Yautjas looked at her strangely. ("Uhm, well...yes, we do.") Grinder replied.

"Oh! You will have to teach me a few words before you leave the city!" The woman's accent made her sound like she would have no problem pronouncing any words from their dictionary.

The bigger Yautja shifted away nervously, alongside Bleeder and Neon.

Heather stepped in between them and began to shove them out the door (namely Grinder with him being the largest), wanting to leave it at that since she saw that it looked like she had Jason and the others right where she wanted them. There was no need for anymore bickering or threats.

...Besides, she was fucking _starving _and she was tired as hell.

Passing glares back and forth between one another (although the Yautjas' were hidden due to their masks), Heather and her group left the room soundly and made their way outside, turning on their cloaks again. The door was left open, however, leaving Neon and Bleeder to stare down into the hallway to make sure the other humans did not move a muscle. If one of them brought out something that looked even _remotely _similar to a phone...

"Check back in the morning," Heather spoke up. "Borgia can't search for me forever. Give it a few days...maybe a week, more or less, and they'll give up on me."

Grinder snorted. ("And what if they continue to hunt you down? What if they're waiting until the very last minute, to catch you vulnerable once we leave?")

The girl mentally swallowed at that. She hoped to God that wasn't what they were planning. If they tried snatching her while the Yautjas were absent then she was _screwed_. She couldn't call them a second time for help. She just couldn't. She would feel like a pestering bug that just would not stop buzzing around their heads.

"How ironic that you were so eager to escape this place, and yet you're still here wanting to help me." She laughed mirthlessly. Such a thing was indeed appalling to her, seeing as how they would have killed her without a second thought before, and yet here they were wanting to do all they could to protect her.

A small guttural sound came from Razor as he began to climb back on top of the roof, though Heather could barely see it due to the cloak. ("We're not sadists. Leaving our rescuer to die would be very dishonorable.")

She twisted her lip a bit, thoughtfully.

Kelly then popped her head from over the roof to look down upon the young female as the other Yautja males scrambled for the roof. "Well?" She asked. "How'd it go?"

She just waved. "You guys find someplace to rest. I'll meet you back here in the morning. I'll be fine."

The older woman nodded, followed by Wolf peeking his head over as well. He said nothing, though seemed to be regarding her for a minute. For a minute she thought he might be having second thoughts about her, but she knew better than to suddenly assume things like that right off.

He gave a nod of the head before disappearing into the night through his cloak. Heather just stood there as she watched her friends retreat atop the building, the faint bending of the light around their invisibility the only thing making them barely visible. What with the neon lights glowing in all directions, they were almost completely invisible.

She was about to turn around until she saw one of them seeming to hesitate as he stood hunched over the edge of the roof, head turned down to look at her. The only way she could indicate who this was, was by the familiar ponytail that his dreadlocks were in, meaning that this was Razor who was staring her down like a gargoyle.

"Yes?"

He grumbled something inaudible. ("Nothin',") Was his reply. ("scream if you need help.")

Heather giggled stupidly at that remark. "Tch. Yeah, goodnight to you too, sourpuss."

She was gone before he could even think up a comeback to her words.

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A/N: meh, this was a rather boring chapter :C but hopefully...the next one will be more entertaining C: oh btw, when Sahara said "Aye" it's not pronounced as it looks; she's _Spanish_, so it's pronounced "Aiiyeh". from what i've heard, though :S i could be wrong, rofl.


	15. Surrender

A/N: ...i know, i know. i'll explain my excuses for not updating later but for now, you're probably just wanting the next damn chapter up XD well here you are~

you know the drill on copyrights.

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**Message Fifteen: Surrender**

When Heather said she was starving, she certainly meant it. Once dinner was over, she immediately craved dessert, downing it within only a few short minutes. Jason, nor the other two, had ever seen Heather eat so quickly and voraciously. They didn't know exactly how long she went without food, although considering how long she'd been running from the cops, that was a few days to be exact. How she was still up and wide awake was astonishing, she should have been collapsing from exhaustion right about now. But still, there she sat at the kitchen table, hastily beckoning for Jason to bring her some more food. That was about three plates she'd consumed entirely.

"Kitten, you might not wanna eat so fast...you might make yourself sick." Warned the man as he cautiously sat another plate full of coleslaw, some strange meat that Heather forgot the name of, but _loved _the flavor, and spaghetti on the side. An odd combination, but she didn't care. She could eat damn near anything at this point.

She waved at him, stuffing her mouth full once more. "Fhen ah'll fuke iht uhp." Came her muffled reply. She swallowed, then wiped her mouth with a nearby napkin and took a big gulp of the water that sat next to her. "I went--" Another bite of the food. "--nearly _three days_ without any food or hydration, I think it's safe to say in the literal term that I'm fucking _starving_." Picking up her fork again, she began to pick at the spaghetti and twirl it around the utensil.

Jason sat at the end of the dinner table and sighed, placing the side of his head inside his palm as he watched the girl eat. Corona and Sahara stayed in the living room, which was the closest to the door, keeping watch out for anyone suspicious. They passed the time by conversing in Spanish, about _what_, Heather didn't know. She didn't know how to speak Spanish very well, let alone understand it.

With a satisfied burp--and quite a loud one--Heather slumped back in her chair and sighed happily, rubbing her stomach, closing her eyes and smiling. Jason examined her a bit and wrinkled his nose, wondering if she would ask for yet _another _plate of food.

"I'd think that you would want to _avoid _getting sick." He spoke up.

She cracked an eye open to look at him. "I'm just glad to have some _food _in me, boy." She snapped rather calmly, though there was no hiding that irritation.

He ignored this and raised a brow at her, straightening up a bit and giving the black cat trotting across the tabletop a scratch on the chin as she purred and turned to face her master, who was stuffed full and looking ready to sleep.

"I'm surprised you're not in an even worse condition than you already are. Going that long without food or water can kind of mess you up, you know."

Heather's eyes opened slightly as she gazed off into space, her head following them and entering the clouds. He was right, by now she should have been very weak and sleepy, but she was only halfway to wanting to sleep. Right now she was just bored, and being bored made her tired. She did, however, recall the time when Razor had her drink the blood from his wrist in order to stabilize her for rough travelling.

_("Yautja blood allows oomans to live longer lives so long as they apply it to their body, or if they drink it. It nourishes them and revitalizes their systems enough to keep them stable after hundreds of years. This will heal your wounds and wake you up a bit.")_

She blinked. Did this mean that she'd be awake for a while longer? She could definitely feel it wearing off, and she had to admit she was already getting a bit tired; two yawns emitted her after thinking this. It was a long week. Longer than it should have been, or felt. And had been inexplicably hectic.

She had lost her job only a few days ago, went from employee to fleeing criminal--the number _one _most wanted criminal in the city more than likely, by the way--had to strain her friendships in order to make sure she didn't get caught, and also had to keep an eye on her new Yautja friends, who were the main reason why she was in this mess in the first place.

Once she backtracked, she had to come down to the big question that had plagued her ever since she made it out of Borgia Industries:

_Was it worth it?_

Probably. Probably not.

_Was she doing the right thing?_

She thought she was. She thought it was right to help them. But then again, there was the problem that she always had, and that would sometimes get her into trouble; she _thought_.

She _thought _too much. Way, way too much. It was one of her weaknesses, where she could lose her heads in the clouds and be lost for hours unless someone snapped her to. It was because she thought too much that she would find herself staring at her test subjects, intrigued by the markings on their skin, their eyes, the way they spoke, the way they fought...it all fascinated her. A certain _someone _'fascinated' her at how he--

"Heather?"

She blinked, looking over at Jason with a slurred 'Huh?' as she was brought back to reality. Sort of.

He eyed her a bit. "I think you need sleep. You're already dozing off."

This took a minute to register in her head, but she slowly nodded, agreeing with him this once. She yawned again and stretched, hearing the clanking sounds of the dishes being taken into the kitchen. She stood and scratched Luna on the forehead a little before walking towards the guest room, the feline hopping off the table and following her owner.

"You going to bed?" Heather turned to face Sahara and Corona before nodding. Sahara smiled at her and nodded. "Buenos noches." Heather returned the gesture and waved at the two before passing through the hallway.

Much to her disappointment, she bumped into Jason along the way. She was getting dizzy. She wasn't entirely sure if that was a side effect of drinking the Yautja blood or if...those long hours without sleep were finally starting to kick in if the Yautja blood was wearing off.

The two paused for a minute before catching eyes. Heather sighed tiredly. "I'll see you tomorrow." Jason said nothing, but kept looking at her with a look that she swore appeared to be guilt. Shrugging mentally, she aimed to press on until he stopped her with a faint grip to the arm.

"I'm doing everything I can to keep you out of Borgia's hands. I don't want you getting caught anymore than you, yourself do." He said, trying to put as much sincerity into his wispering as he could.

She shrugged off his hand and shot a look at him, trying to look for anything that might give her a notice that he was putting up an act. Inside, she truly didn't like treating him and the others this way. But she was walking a tight rope, on which _everyone _could be ready to cut that rope, to sever her connection to the minor hope she held on to.

"_You've_ never had an entire city chase after you because of something you did. You don't know how much I want to stay away from those creeps." She whispered back, angrily.

"Then why did you break those things out!?" He snapped.

She glared at him, her lip twisting up which formed a snarl. "It's _inhuman_, Jason!" She retorted, nearly shaking her fists. "Have we really stooped so low to dissect them like frogs and toss their bodies aside like a crumpled up piece of paper?!"

Jason gestured angrily now, pointing out to nowhere in particular, but seemingly to where he 'thought' was a Yautja. "Their kind _hunts _us like deer. What else do you expect us to do? Let them continue their sport and tear us all apart?"

"At least they do the justice of killing their prey _swiftly_...and not _torturing _them like bloodthirsty beasts." She replied rather darkly, which caught her off guard once she realized what she had said.

This seemed to surprise Jason as well, as his eyes widened at her words. He took a single step back, almost hesitant to move, but the look he was giving her was undoubtedly a look that she had hoped to never see: _shame_. "My God, you're even starting to _sound _like them."

Heather pushed him away in an agitated manner, moving past him. "God _damn _it, Jason, don't make this anymore difficult than it already is." She stormed into the guest room.

"Kitten--!"

"_Goodnight_."

And with that, she slammed the door in his face. For a moment she stood in place, staring at the dark brown color of the polished surface of the door, just needing to stand there for a second to gather herself. Before she could fully turn around, a meowing and scratching sound was heard through the door. Heather opened it halfway to allow Luna to rush inside before Jason began berating her again.

Once she turned around though, it seemed as if the Yautja blood had officially worn off, and sleep deprivation hit her like a ton of bricks. She began to get dizzy, causing her to wobble and stumble to the point to where she tipped over and crashed to the floor, a thud pronouncing her impact with the carpet.

For a moment, she lay there halfway unconscious, unsure if she should move or not. Sleep was consuming her by the minute, and she would much rather sleep on a bed than the floor. She barely had the strength to even move one of her arms up to the foot of the bed. She struggled to stay awake long enough to where she could fall onto the mattress, but every time she tried to move, she would collapse, desperate to sleep no matter what surface she slept on. Luna sat atop the bed mewing at her; she knew what the cat was thinking, if she were stronger she would definitely help the girl up. But she was a small cat. There was nothing she could do.

_What a pain in the ass_, she'd think. She came so far to get some decent rest, and now here it was, just inches from her, taunting her exhausted form like every other bit of freedom did.

Then, out of nowhere, Heather suddenly felt a lukewarm hand slip underneath one of her palms and lift it up. She moved her fingers to feel about, and noticed that the hand had leathery skin. She felt an arm wrap around her back and grip her stomach to lift her off the ground carefully so that she wouldn't stumble. She flung an arm out to what she imagined was the invisible shoulder of her helper, and they guided her to the bed without much trouble, save for her legs wanting to give out every two seconds.

Her eyes flickered open and closed, trying her hardest to keep conscious until she was off her feet. She saw the covers being pulled back off the bed, and she was carefully sat down on the edge so she could shift underneath the sheets. Once tucked in and snuggled deep into the pillow, with Luna curling up next to her head, she felt the palm of her invisble helper press against her hair gently as if to reassure her of the situation. Her mind was already drifting into blackness before she could even confirm who this was, but whoever it was, she was grateful for them.

She was grateful for them indeed.

--

Heather had no idea how long she'd been out. She didn't care either; she was more interested in getting as much rest as she could, and needless to say, she felt very relaxed despite the hell her body went through the past few days. She felt her eyes very slowly begin to crack open, the sleep around them making it difficult for her to even open them. She continued blinking rapidly to try and make her vision less blurry, seeing a very faint hint of orange shining through the shades on her window--assuming it was already morning. She glanced up and saw Luna snuggled into a nearby pillow, purring softly and blissfully. She blinked again and glanced down at her arms sprawled across the sheets and pillows, and she wondered if she could even move again. Figuring there was nothing left to lose, she shifted her strength to where she could lift her arms. Surprisingly, she managed to lift them off the bed very slowly, with a trace of soreness lining her elbows and shoulders that made her groan out when she stretched. Not exactly a comfortable feeling...but it was far better than lying face-first on the cold hard floor with the same pain.

Then her eyes snapped open.

_Someone was here..._ She thought. Before she could continue her ponderings, a subtle crash was heard behind her door and what sounded like furniture being knocked over. The sudden eruption of glass shattering caused Luna to jump straight up from her position and arch her back as if she already knew what was going on. If Heather was correct, the sounds appeared to be coming from the living room. She jerked herself upwards, realizing too late that that was a bad idea--a strike of pain rushed up her thighs and shoulderblades, increasing the soreness in half of her body. She stifled a loud groan, only allowing a tiny tear to run down her cheek at how much it hurt. She quickly wiped it away with a brush of her wrist and sat up, listening for any more sounds that could be heard. A nervous silence stretched, and she reached underneath her pillow to grab a black combat knife--Jason always kept a knife hidden under every pillow in his apartment...and right now, Heather was thankful for that.

She slowly slid out of her bed, attempting to not make any noise whatsoever. She didn't like not having her gun. She didn't like not having any bullets left. She felt naked without it, but for now the knife would have to do. She hoped that whatever she heard was just her friends getting into an argument and not what she _thought _it was. Luna stayed in a black ball of frayed fur at the corner of her bed, growling softly at the door. Heather kept the knife behind her back and placed her hand on the doorhandle, very slowly squeezing the handle to release the lock on the door before pulling it open as quietly and slowly as she could. She only cracked it enough to see outside into the hallway, but couldn't see much due to the walls blocking her view into the living room. Taking a risk, she flipped the knife around into a stabbing position and opened the door further, enough for her to sneak out into the hall. She kept her back hunched and her legs bent, quietly making her way around the door and against the wall. She scooted to where she could turn her head around the corner to see inside the living room, her breath catching in her throat as soon as she did so.

There was a handful of them, how they all managed to fit inside the living room was unknown to Heather, but they were circled around and were fully armed. Borgia's men...she'd recognize their dark suits anywhere. And they all seemed to be aiming their weapons at a familiar friend of hers. Her eyes wandered and caught sight of an unconscious Sahara thrown over the couch and handcuffed, and Corona was...well Corona wasn't with them anymore--seeing as she was lying flat on the ground with a trail of blood running from her head. The girl's throat tightened as she tried to swallow, threatening to release a gasp at what she was seeing.

_She's dead...oh God, they killed Corona!_ She screamed inside her mind. She quietly released a breath of air to catch herself, as she turned her head back to listen in on the quiet conversation. She already knew why they were here, though.

"--Again, and answer truthfully or we'll execute you both--where is the girl and the escaped Yautja prisoners?" One of them asked, sticking a gun against Jason's cheek to further get their point across.

The man looked frantic, as if he wasn't sure to tell the truth or lie to them. "I--...I don't know, I don't know where the Yautjas went. They were here and then they were gone. I couldn't tell which direction they went due to their cloaking devices."

"Now what about the employee?" The same officer asked, more demanding this time.

"I--" Before Jason could answer, he paused as soon as he spotted Heather's head peeking from behind the hallway's corner. She was awake. _Fuck_, she was awake. That was both good and bad. How much she heard, he didn't know. But the point was that she was awake and was watching everything happening. But finally, she gave him one single look before disappearing behind the corner.

He swallowed hard, hoping that the officers hadn't caught onto his minor distraction. "...I still don't know. She left with the Yautjas. They're...they're like her bodyguards now or something, I don't know why they'd keep her alive...I'm serious, this is all I know." He tried to put as much strength in his voice as he could, unsure if they would kill him anyway over the false information. Silence hung so heavy that he swore his heart stopped beating.

Back in the bedroom, Heather was struggling to get her belongings back into her backpack as quickly as she could without making too much noise. Her breathing was sharp and her actions were utterly panicked; she had to get out of here _now _or she would be caught.

Finally shoving everything back into the pack, she grabbed Luna and placed her inside the extra opening and zipped it shut, then slung it over her shoulders and made way for the door, keeping the knife in hand. She carefully and quietly opened it and tried her best to walk on her toes through the hallway. The exit to the balcony was just to her left. If she could get out there she would be home free.

It wasn't three steps before a hand flew over her mouth and her vision went black.

-------------

A/N: well FUCK! good job, Kitten.

okay, so...what is my excuse for not updating? depression? no, no, not this time. my inexplicably lame excuse is this: Ratchet & Clank. ._. yes, you heard me right. RATCHET AND CLANK. god help me i never imagined i'd get so addicted to that game like before! SO GUESS WHAT, you guys can blame EVARYTHING on them, oks? 8D

do forgive me though if my writing is a bit rusty. i've been drawing too much lately XD

anyway...KITTYYY STOP MAKING CHAPTERS WITH CLIFFHANGERS YOU DUMB BITCH -slaps self-


	16. important update!

'ello, all! man, it's been a while, hasn't it?

i hate that this update isn't another chapter, but instead me coming back to say that i will be revamping this entire story. mostly just the characters' names, and a little bit of the plot. since when i first started this fic, i kind of trailed off the actual base of the plot since i was just writing as i went along instead of planning something out. suffice to say i have had plenty of time to improve my writing, so i will be redoing former chapters to fit the plot of the upcoming revamp. i'm actually a little embarrassed as well as extremely flattered that so many people liked my writing/development before. but, i assure you, i don't think the story is dead quite yet. i still want to finish it! i just think it needs a little touching up.

anyway, i duly apologize for being a horrible updater. hopefully with the coming new year i'll be able to fix it up nice and shiny!

-kitten


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